Emma Watson 'raging' after nude photos hack threat

'I knew it was a hoax. I knew the pictures didn't exist,' Emma Watson said. Credit: Doug Peters/Doug Peters/EMPICS Entertainment

Emma Watson has revealed she was "raging" after a website threatened to release nude pictures of her online.

The UN Ambassador for Women said she had been targeted after she spoke out about gender equality

"After I gave my speech [at the UN] there was a website threatening to release naked pictures of me," the actress said.

• Read: Hackers threaten to release nude photos of Emma Watson

Watson said she had been targeted after she spoke out about gender equality Credit: Jon Furniss/Facebook/PA Wire

I knew it was a hoax, I knew the pictures didn't exist, but I think a lot of people that were close to me knew gender equality was an issue but didn't think it was that urgent, that it was a thing of the past.
And then when they saw that the minute I stood up talking about women's rights I was immediately threatened, I think they were really shocked, my brother was particularly upset.
This is a real thing that's happening now, women are receiving threats.

– Emma Watson

Jennifer Lawrence called the posting online of hacked photos 'a sex crime.' Credit: Chase Rollins/AFF/EMPICS Entertainment

"I was raging, it made me so angry, I was like, 'This is why I have to be doing this'. If anything, if they were trying to put me off it, it did the opposite," Watson told a Facebook event for International Women's Day.

In September a website titled "Emma You Are Next", featuring an image of the Harry Potter star next to a countdown clock, appeared to have been created by a user of image-sharing website 4chan.

The threat followed the release of lewd images of celebrities including actress Jennifer Lawrence and model Kate Upton, which Lawrence described as "a sex crime".