UW Athletics UW volleyball team is pictured in this photo.
Graphic UW Volleyball photos and video shared on Reddit and other social media sites were “unauthorized” and are the subject of a Wisconsin police investigation after players’ privacy was breached.
In a statement posted on Twitter, the UW Athletics Department wrote on October 19, 2022, “We are aware that private photos and video of UW volleyball student-athletes that were never intended to be shared publicly are being circulated digitally.”
The university added that “the unauthorized sharing is a significant and wrongful invasion of the student-athletes’ privacy, including potential violations of university policies and criminal statutes.”
The Daily Cardinal described the photos and video as “explicit.” Heavy is not sharing any links to the photos or video to protect the privacy of the volleyball players.
Here’s what you need to know:
The University Says Police Are ‘Investigating Multiple Crimes’
Statement from UW Athletics
There is a police investigation into the UW volleyball photos.
“When the student -athletes became aware of the circulating photos, they contacted the UW-Madison Police Department,” the university wrote.
“UWPD is investigating multiple crimes, including sharing sensitive photos without consent. UWPD is not investigating the volleyball student-athletes for wrongdoing in this matter. Our top priority is supporting our student-athletes, and we are providing them with the appropriate services and resources.”
According to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “The team is 13-3 with a 7-1 record in the Big Ten and is ranked No. 5 in the nation.”
The UW Volleyball Photos & Videos Were Likely Taken After the Team Won a Big Ten Title, Reports Say
According to TMZ, the UW volleyball photos and videos “are believed to have been taken after the team clinched the Big Ten title in November of last year.”
“One of the photos reportedly shows several members of the team lifting their sports bras and posing,” the entertainment site reported.
The photos and videos have been deleted from many sites, including Reddit threads. Many commentators are defending the volleyball players and criticizing the person or people who shared them without permission. The motive for the unauthorized sharing of the pictures is not clear. The suspect or suspects is not known either.
You can see the team’s 2022 schedule here on the UW Badgers’ website. The team has many players on its roster, and the names of the players the photos and video include have been kept private. There are many spam sites on the Internet promising to direct users to the photos and videos that then send people to unrelated porn sites or subject them to viruses. That’s especially true on Twitter. Again, the photos and video were shared without the players’ consent and there is a criminal investigation undergoing into that action.
According to Fox News, WPD Executive Director of Communications Marc Lovicott said on October 20, 2022, that the university was are “unable to share any additional details” because of the active law enforcement investigation into the photos’ release. The university has not confirmed or denied reports on social media that photos and videos originally were shared on Snapchat.