The man accused of hacking into the email account of
Scarlett Johansson and distributing naked photos of her has pleaded not guilty to the offence.
Christopher Chaney, 35, is also accused of hacking accounts belonging to Hollywood A-listers Mila Kunis and Christina Aguilera .
He has now appeared in court in California for the first time, charged with 26 offences including unauthorised access to a computer and wiretapping, which could land him 121 years in prison.
Chaney was arrested after Johansson called in the FBI to investigate the theft of her pictures and an investigation dubbed Operation Hackeratti was launched.
The photos were intended for the 26-year-old actress’ then-husband Ryan Reynolds.
She recently told Vanity Fair that despite being shocked that they were made public, she was proud of the pics: ‘I know my best angles… Those are old, from three years ago. They were sent to my husband.
‘There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not like I was shooting a porno. Although there’s nothing wrong with that either.’
A search warrant for Chaney’s address reveals that his computer hard drive contained numerous private celebrity photos and documentation of their personal data.
He has been released on $100,000 bail and will be electronically tagged at his home in Florida, ahead of the trial beginning on December 27th.
