Los Angeles (AFP) – Nude photos purportedly showing many top stars, including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence and pop star Rihanna, bounced around social media, in an apparent massive hacking leak, U.S. media reported.

“It’s so weird and hard how people take your privacy away from you,” Lawrence said in a tweet on Sunday.

The actress’ agent, meanwhile, vowed to take legal action.

“This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence,” her representative told TMZ entertainment website.

Word of the images began spreading early Sunday, amid reports that the photos had been obtained by hacking iCloud accounts, Mashable and other media reported.

Among the celebrities whose pictures allegedly were stolen and posted online were Avril Lavigne, Amber Heard, Gabrielle Union, Hayden Panettiere and Hope Solo, according to Mashable.

Media reports said among the other starlets targeted were Hillary Duff, Jenny McCarthy, Kaley Cuoco, Kate Upton, Kate Bosworth, Keke Palmer and Kim Kardashian.

Former Nickelodeon star and singer Victoria Justice said the images claiming to show her unclothed body were anything but the real deal.

“These so called nudes of me are FAKE people. Let me nip this in the bud right now. *pun intended*” she tweeted.

A spokesperson for actress and pop star Ariana Grande told BuzzFeed that images said to be of her, are “completely fake.”

But horror movie actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead, whose intimate photos were leaked, acknowledged her frustration.

“To those of you looking at photos I took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home, hope you feel great about yourselves,” she tweeted.

“Knowing those photos were deleted long ago, I can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this. Feeling for everyone who got hacked.”

AFP Photo/Mike Coppola