Acelebritysextapeistypicallyanamateurpornographicvideorecordinginvolvingoneormorecelebrityfamousperson(s)whichhas,intentionallyorunintentionally,beenmadeavailablepublicly.Suchvideotapesareoftenreleasedwithouttheconsentoftheirsubjects,andcouldpotentiallydamagecelebrities'careers.In1988,asextapecausedsignificantdamagetoRobLowe'scareer.[1]Inrecentyears,however,manycelebritieshavebenefitedfromthepublicityresultingfromthereleaseofasextape.[2]ThereleaseofParisHilton'ssextapein2003aswellasKimKardashian'ssextapein2007broughtthemtoanewleveloffame,leadingtomagazinecovers,bookdeals,andrealityTVseries. Thesurfacingofsextapeshasbecomesocommonthatsomeare"leaked"asamarketingtooltoadvanceorestablishamediacareer.[1]Acelebritycanfightthereleaseincourttomaintaindeniabilitywhilestillenjoyingthecareerbenefits.Incontrast,acelebritymaytaketherouteofopenlyreleasingthetapeandbenefitdirectlyfromroyaltiesaswellasindirectlyfromthepublicity.ThecurrentpublicacceptanceofcelebritieswithsextapesisspeculatedbyJoeLevy,executiveeditorofRollingStone,tobeduetotheeasyavailabilityofpornography,aswellascouplesmorecommonlymakingtheirowntapesduetotheprevalenceofvideocameras
