Usually embraced for his over-the-line sense of humor, Ricky Gervais posted the following tweet in reference to the leak of nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence and possibly dozens of other celebrities. Only this one finally went a few steps too far (via Daily Mail):

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Followers immediately attacked Gervais for the comment, prompting him to delete the tweet and pass it off as a joke. The Daily Mail reports he posted more to Twitter after the initial tweet, but these no longer appear in his feed:

He later wrote: 'Dear easily offended people, don't be. Hope that helps. Have a great day :)'

The Office star added: 'Making a joke about a thing doesn't mean you condone that thing.

'Of course the hackers are 100% to blame but you can still makes jokes about it. Jokes don't portray your true serious feelings on a subject.

'It's more important to spend your energy trying to stop actual bad things than to run around trying to stop jokes about bad things.

But Gervais's view — that celebrities shouldn't keep nude photos of themselves on a phone or computer if they don't want this to happen to them — is a widely held one, whether or not he meant it as a "joke." And it's not a fair one, because the logic is as good as saying that shoplifting wouldn't happen if clothing stores didn't sell dresses. The whole leak is a gross violation of the privacy of Jennifer Lawrence and all the other celebrities who had photos stolen, and fault for the whole matter does not lie with them — it lies with a thief (or thieves, as the case may be). When Paris Hilton's house was robbed by the "Bling Ring," she wasn't blamed for it because she had all those clothes in the first place. While these photos feel less tangible than bags and jewelry since they existed only electronically on the Internet, a "cloud" no less, that doesn't change the fact that they are private property. And still can, just like a pair of shoes, be stolen by someone they don't belong to.

Lena Dunham tweeted her comments on the scandal, too, reminding the world that blaming the women in the photos is like blaming a rape victim for wearing a short skirt.

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Seth Rogen also reminded the world the photos are stolen property, wisely being extra careful to clarify that he would never compare women to merchandise.

Gervais, meanwhile, seems to have found a better way to make a joke about this whole mess. He retweeted the following:

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