A California lawmaker has blasted blackmailers who tried to slut-shame and threaten her by posting scandalous accusations and racy photos of her at Burning Man online.
Rachel Hundley, who is a Sonoma city councilmember running for re-election, said an anonymous person created a website earlier this month that featured photos of her in her underwear and questioned her personal lifestyle.
The 35-year-old said she was sent an email containing a link to the website on August 13 that threatened to expose her if she didn’t drop out of the upcoming council election.
The now defunct ‘Rachel Hundley Exposed’ website included allegations of ‘lascivious, drunk and drug-addled behavior’.
Rachel Hundley, a city councilmember in Sonoma, California, said blackmailers tried to force her out of the upcoming election by slut-shaming her with photos (above in 2016) from Burning Man
‘The little we’ve done so far in researching your history is highly troubling. We believe your behavior is immoral and has no place in our Town,’ the email read.
‘You do not measure up. We suggest you pass and move on with your life; otherwise, your candidacy this time will be one of full disclosures to all Sonoma.’
The photos posted on the website of Hundley at Burning Man had been taken from her public social media accounts.
Hundley, who is a former mayor of the Sonoma city, posted a video online addressing the extortion attempt and slammed the ‘spineless individuals’ who created the website.
Hundley, who is a former mayor of the Sonoma city, posted a video online addressing the extortion attempt and slammed the ‘spineless individuals’ who created the website
She said the blackmailers tried to slut-shame her but she insisted she never intended to give into their demands.
‘I am here today to tell my faceless bullies that I cannot be shamed into quitting because I am not ashamed,’ she said.
Hundley confirmed that she had attended Burning Man for several years and worked there serving Sonoma wines at a well-known wine bar associated with a ‘consent-focused sex-positive theme camp’.
‘What was especially disturbing in this era of Me Too was the attempt to slut shame me for celebrating my body and for my attendance at Burning Man,’ Hundley said of the website.
Hundley said she was sent an email containing a link to the website on August 13 that threatened to expose her if she didn’t drop out of the upcoming council election
Hundley confirmed that she had attended Burning Man for several years and worked there serving Sonoma wines at a well-known wine bar. The photos posted on the website of Hundley at Burning Man (above in 2017) had been taken from her public social media accounts
Hundley said much the information on the website was just ‘outright lies’.
She added that some of the photos were not even of her, including one of a woman smoking a bong.
She said the website was created to pressure her to withdraw from the election, to make her afraid and to ‘silence another strong female voice’.
It is not clear who created the website because the URL was obtained anonymously in April. It described Hundley as a ‘cruel and demented person’ and said she was ‘a cancer’ that needed to be cut from the community.
The email Hundley received was signed by an organization called the Sonoma Citizens for Peace and Cooperation.