The gentle response to Chris Evans' nude photo leak is how these things should always go down

When I opened Twitter Saturday morning, I saw "Chris Evans" and "Captain America" trending. Evans is my favorite of the Marvel Chrises, so naturally I clicked to see what was happening with him—then quickly became confused. I saw people talking about "nude leaks," some remarks about (ahem) "size," and something about how he'd accidentally leaked naked photos of himself. But as I scrolled through the feed (not looking for the pics, just trying to figure out what happened) the only photos I saw were of him and his dog, occasionally sprinkled with handsome photos of him fully clothed.
Here's what had happened. Evans apparently had shared a video in his Instagram stories that somehow ended with an image of his camera roll. Among the tiled photos was a picture of a penis. No idea if it was his and really don't care. Clearly, it wasn't intentional and it appears the IG story was quickly taken down.
Of course, people screenshotted it before it was taken down. Then Twitter blew up. And the internet being what it is, one might expect that the photo would have dominated the Twitter feed—but it didn't. Fans are so protective of his Evans' wholesome goodness and right to privacy that thousands flooded the feed with sweet public photos of him, largely with his rescue dog, Dodger. It was a clear, purposeful effort to drown out any shares of the private photos, and from what I saw—or rather, didn't see—it worked.
Fans also pointed out that Evans has talked openly about having anxiety, so people were particularly sensitive to how the actor might feel about having such an embarrassing thing happen.
Post after post of Chris-being-his-awesome-self photos.
It was a heartwarming response, honestly. In a world where the more salacious something is the more people click, it was lovely to see masses of Twitter users immediately mobilize to protect someone's privacy.
If only that were the way such leaks always went down.
Some people praised the move while simultaneously pointing out that women who have nudes leaked are not usually given the same courtesy. When Jennifer Lawrence's phone was hacked and nude photos were leaked on the internet, much of the buzz over it included people shaming her for having the photos on her phone in the first place.
Lawrence responded with a solid defense, in which she laid out the fact that she didn't need to defend herself for what she did privately in her own relationship. But people still acted as if she had no right to that privacy as a celebrity, which is, of course, dead wrong.
There's also the fact that Lawrence's photos were illegally stolen and leaked, which adds an extra layer of offense that should enrage any decent person. Evans leaked his photos himself, which is super unfortunate, but for some reason kicked in a more compassionate response than Lawrence received. Maybe we've matured since 2014, maybe we've just become more accustomed to seeing such leaks, or maybe women are held to different standards of decency and respect.
Chris Evans has yet to comment on the leak and the protective response of his fans, as far as I'm aware. But his brother Scott did manage to pull off a bit of humor from the incident.
Ah, brothers.
Let's all make a pact that when leaked nude photos of anyone start circulating, we flood the space with images they've given the public permission to see. Chris Evans got this treatment because he is beloved, well respected, and a genuinely good guy. But everyone has a basic right to privacy no matter who they are—male or female, famous or not.
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Resurfaced video of French skier's groin incident has people giving the announcer a gold medal
"The boys took a beating on that one."
Downhill skiing is a sport rife with injuries, but not usually this kind.
A good commentator can make all the difference when watching sports, even when an event goes smoothly. But it's when something goes wrong that great announcers rise to the top. There's no better example of a great announcer in a surprise moment than when French skier Yannick Bertrand took a gate to the groin in a 2007 super-G race.
Competitive skiers fly down runs at incredible speeds, often exceeding 60 mph. Hitting something hard at that speed would definitely hurt, but hitting something hard with a particularly sensitive part of your body would be excruciating. So when Bertrand slammed right into a gate family-jewels-first, his high-pitched scream was unsurprising. What was surprising was the perfect commentary that immediately followed.
This is a clip you really just have to see and hear to fully appreciate:
- YouTube youtu.be
It's unclear who the announcer is, even after multiple Google inquiries, which is unfortunate because that gentleman deserves a medal. The commentary gets better with each repeated viewing, with highlights like:
"The gate the groin for Yannick Bertrand, and you could hear it. And if you're a man, you could feel it."
"Oh, the Frenchman. Oh-ho, monsieurrrrrr."
"The boys took a beating on that one."
"That guy needs a hug."
"Those are the moments that change your life if you're a man, I tell you what."
"When you crash through a gate, when you do it at high rate of speed, it's gonna hurt and it's going to leave a mark in most cases. And in this particular case, not the area where you want to leave a mark."
Imagine watching a man take a hit to the privates at 60 mph and having to make impromptu commentary straddling the line between professionalism and acknowledging the universal reality of what just happened. There are certain things you can't say on network television that you might feel compelled to say. There's a visceral element to this scenario that could easily be taken too far in the commentary, and the inherent humor element could be seen as insensitive and offensive if not handled just right.
The announcer nailed it. 10/10. No notes.
The clip frequently resurfaces during the Winter Olympic Games, though the incident didn't happen during an Olympic event. Yannick Bertrand was competing at the FIS World Cup super-G race in Kvitfjell, Norway in 2007, when the unfortunate accident occurred. Bertrand had competed at the Turin Olympics the year before, however, coming in 24th in the downhill and super-G events.
As painful as the gate to the groin clearly as, Bertrand did not appear to suffer any damage that kept him from the sport. In fact, he continued competing in international downhill and super-G races until 2014.
According to a 2018 study, Alpine skiing is a notoriously dangerous sport with a reported injury rate of 36.7 per 100 World Cup athletes per season. Of course, it's the knees and not the coin purse that are the most common casualty of ski racing, which we saw clearly in U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn's harrowing experiences at the 2026 Olympics. Vonn was competing with a torn ACL and ended up being helicoptered off of the mountain after an ugly crash that did additional damage to her legs, requiring multiple surgeries (though what caused the crash was reportedly unrelated to her ACL tear). Still, she says she has no regrets.
As Bertrand's return to the slopes shows, the risk of injury doesn't stop those who live for the thrill of victory, even when the agony of defeat hits them right in the rocks.