Comedian shuts down blackmail attempts by sharing photo of nipple

By Alan McGuinness, news reporter

A comedian has posted a picture of her nipple online after she received messages trying to extort money from her over the image.

Whitney Cummings said she accidentally uploaded an Instagram Story that included her nipple back in April.

She deleted the post once she realised what had happened, but later wrote on Twitter: “The people who took screengrabs are trying to get money from me, some said they have offers to sell them, some are asking for money to not post the photo.”

In a follow-up tweet, she included a screenshot of one message, which said: “How much would it cost to not share this photo?”

Cummings re-posted the image in question with the caption: “They all must think I’m way more famous than I am, but they also must think I’m way more easily intimidated than I am.

“If anyone is gonna make money or likes off my nipple, it’s gonna be me.

“So here it all is, you foolish dorks.”

Expanding on her reasons for posting the photo, Cummings added: “When a woman in the public eye is extorted, we have to spend time, money and energy dealing with it, hiring lawyers and security experts, and living with a pit in our stomach about when and how we will be humiliated.

“Y’all can have my nipple, but not my time or money anymore.”

She said she would not be posting the names of the individuals she had received messages from “because some of them might be dumb kids”.

The comedian received a number of messages of support, with many people using #IStandWithWhitney.

One of those was fellow comedian Bert Kreischer, who shared a photo of his testicles with the caption: “#IStandWithWhitney Hey @WhitneyCummings I hate what those dorks tried to do to you – here’s an embarrassing picture of my testicles after I fell on a waterslide.”

Cummings later added that she had received further threats from people claiming to have access to her iCloud online storage account, but declared: “I’ll be honest, I stand by most of my nudes. Frankly I’m way more embarrassed by all the inspirational quotes I’ve screengrabbed.”