Jamal AndressIf you haven't heard Emma Watson's speech at the U.N. on gender equality, it's worth the 11 minutes or so of your time.
"In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt, I've told myself firmly: If not me, who? If not now, when?"
But just hours after her speech, the threats and rumors began.
One such rumor popped up on 4chan, the website where nude celebrity photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Gabrielle Union, Kate Upton and dozens of other women were first shared.
A 4chan user claimed he would soon release nude photos of Watson. That rumor was followed by an entire website dedicated to the supposed leak with Watson's face and a countdown clock.
But when the countdown finally struck zero, there were no nude photos to be found.
Instead there was this message urging the collective Internet to help shut down 4chan.
Turns out the nude photos were a hoax by the self-proclaimed social media marketing enterprise Rantic. Rantic has also tweeted out its message to try and garner support for shutting down the imageboard site.
But The Verge points out this marketing campaign by Rantic is about self-promotion rather than shutting down 4chan.
"By displaying the results front and center and tweeting about emmayouarenext.com's viral success, the campaign's organizers are perhaps more focused on promoting their own brand and services than issues of privacy and gender equality."
According to Mashable, Rantic claims to have worked with large companies like McDonald's and Rockstar Games and are reportedly linked to other social media hoax campaigns.
Despite the rumors and threats against Watson, she has continued to promote the HeForShe campaign by tweeting out messages of support from her followers and other celebrities.
This video includes images from Getty Images.
