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It’s one of those celebrity statements that will probably made a lot of you roll your eyes when you consider how Katharine McPhee gleefully allows the industry to exploit her in order to keep the dollar bills moving through the system (and her various bank accounts). Along with a number of other big names, the 31-year-old filed a suit against various websites demanding that they remove the stolen images and requesting that they shut themselves down. Good luck with the latter, Katharine! Anyway, People magazine got a hold of Katharine for exclusive comments.

“I was hacked sometime in the last few years, and along with other celebrities a few days ago, my private photos were blasted all over some sick and despicable websites,” McPhee tells PEOPLE exclusively. “The photos that are mine I am not ashamed of. I love my body and they were taken for a man I was deeply in love with, or for no one but myself. But what is also truly disgusting is that these sites include photos that do not belong to me, and are not of my body, and I’ve learned this happens continually.”

The Scorpion star seeks unspecified damages and injunctive relief in the documents — in which she’s referred to as “Jane Doe” — obtained by LaWestMedia and alleges that she experienced “horror, shock, shame, mortification, hurt feelings, depression and feelings of powerlessness” following the publication of the images. McPhee claims in the papers that she “had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the photographs on her telephone and iCloud.”

“The constant exploitation of women with no recourse for these websites is absolutely abhorrent,” she continues in her statement. “These sites, which TMZ (thank you so much) brings more light and attention to by calling them out by name (shame on you), should be shut down. Period. The end. Even if you aren’t the one hacking, if you have taken stolen photos and put them on your site, you are an accessory and should be shut down. Laws need to be changed.”

McPhee hopes that all people, public figures and private citizens alike, affected by similar breaches of privacy can find justice.

“I am not perfect,” she continues in her statement. “I never have been and never will be. I try every day to learn to be better and to always live and lead with kindness and love. But no one deserves this kind of intrusion. I have other friends on these sites, images and videos that were stolen and they cannot get taken down. This is not just a celebrity issue. This is a privacy and sex crime issue that affects private citizens as well. I hope other female victims and men for that matter, will help and join me in ending this absurdity. Game on.” Source

Shutting down sites is not only shortsighted since a new crop of sites will come up within days but also sounds very self-serving. If you think about it, celebrities give up a little of their privacy in exchange for their career choice. In order to counter this privacy issue, they can either pay more money for added privacy or simply stop taking nude photos of themselves! Getting hacked is inevitable and let’s face it, it will happen again and again so the only logical solution is to stop giving hackers what they want (nude photos). Judging by how often these hacks occur, I have a feeling there will always be a crop of celebs taking scandalous photos of themselves and of course, there will always be hackers with malicious intent.