Bryan Hamade, a man suspected of being behind the massive leak of celebrity nude photos – including photos of Jennifer Lawrence and Ariana Grande – says he is innocent.

Who Is Bryan Hamade?

Various Reddit users identified Hamade, 27, a man from Lawrenceville, Georgia, as a suspect after he tried to sell alleged nude photos of Lawrence online for $100 bitcoins. Hamade, who goes by the online alias ‘BluntMastermind,’ apparently posted the offer on Reddit along with a screenshot of his computer to prove he was in possession of such photos, which Reddit users used to identify his hard drive and network drive. Users allegedly used the information to go through Hamade’s Reddit posts and link him to the original photos leaked on 4chan.

Bryan Hamade Denies Being Behind The Leak

Hamade, however, denies he was behind the leak and claims that the alleged screenshot linking him to the original leak was Photoshopped. Hamade says that the only thing he is guilty of is being stupid.

“I am not behind this. It was so stupid – I saw a lot of people posting the actual leaks and bitcoin addresses and I’ve read a lot about bitcoin and how they are valuable and I thought, oh cool I’ll get free bitcoins,” Hamade told BuzzFeed.

“I am just an idiot who tried to pull one over on 4chan and lost big time and stupidly left this identifying information. They took my proof and backed traced it – it isn’t remotely true. I am not a hacker. I have no idea how the hell someone could hack into all those accounts,” Hamade added.

Hamade also told BuzzFeed that he was looking for a lawyer and claims that 4chan users have harassed him and his family since the alleged ‘proof’ of his guilt hit the web.

After Hamade’s declaration of innocence was posted online, Buzzfeed received screenshots from tipsters, which appear to show Hamade, as ‘BluntMastermind,’ claiming responsibility for the nude photo leak. Others have called his work as a “technical expert” with Southern Digital Media into question and are debating his claim that he doesn’t have the skills to commit the hack.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.