Crystal Palace Women star Leigh Nicol has confirmed she is among four British women suing Pornhub after claiming her private videos were uploaded to the website without her consent.
The 25-year-old Scottish midfielder paused her football career in 2019 after an iCloud hack led to her private content being leaked online.
Nicol's content dated back to 2014 when she was only 18 years old, as explicit photos and footage of her were obtained by online hackers.
Advert
The Crystal Palace Women player shut down her social media after the hack as she told Sky Sports in February that she was "recognised for that one thing."
Pornhub removed the content from its platform, but now Nicol is to take action against the internet pornography website.
A 179-page lawsuit was filed in California on Thursday against Pornhub's parent company, MindGeek, which included complaints from 34 women.
Advert
Of the 34 women, 14 of them were underage when their videos were uploaded online while another 14 were the victims of convicted sex criminals.
Four of the women in the lawsuit are British and have each been named 'Jane Doe,' which is followed by a number.
However, Nicol was revealed as Jane Doe No 28 after she waived her right to anonymity.
The former Charlton Athletic Women and Reading Women player took to Instagram to share a statement on the lawsuit against Pornhub's majority owner.
Nicol wrote to her followers: "Over a year ago the process started, here is my statement on the filing.
Advert
"Thank you to you all, my family, friends, colleagues, lawyers and you."
In her emotionally charged statement, Nicol candidly wrote that her life was "ruined" after her sex videos appeared on Pornhub.
The Palace midfielder added that it "killed my personality" and "zapped the happiness out of me."
Nicol explained: "When the videos appeared on PornHub [sic] it ruined my life, it killed my personality, it zapped the happiness out of me.
Advert
"It brought me almost [two] years of shame, depression, anxiety, horrifying thoughts, public embarrassment and scars. I still bear those cars."
Nicol claimed that she sent "numerous emails" to Pornhub to take down the explicit footage of her, though she received "generic, automated responses."
While the content was taken down, it came after at least one of the videos trended in Pornhub's top three most-popular across the site.
Advert
And Nicol's private videos were then downloaded and reuploaded elsewhere on the internet.
Pornhub insisted that it holds a "zero tolerance for illegal content" and it stands "resolutely with all victims of internet-related abuse."
The popular adult website told LADbible in a statement: "Pornhub is currently reviewing and investigating the complaint filed today in California.
"Pornhub has zero tolerance for illegal content and investigates any complaint or allegation made about content on our platforms.
"We stand resolutely with all victims of internet-related abuse. Pornhub takes every complaint regarding the abuse of its platform seriously, including those of the plaintiffs in this case.
"Pornhub has in place the most comprehensive safeguards in user-generated platform history, which include the banning of uploads from unverified users, expanding our moderation processes, and cooperating with dozens of non-profit organisations around the world."
Featured Image Credit: Leigh Nicol/InstagramTopics: Football, England, Crystal Palace