Angelina Jolie, Martin Scorsese and more celebrities' contact details exposed in Tribeca Film Festival data breach

A reported Tribeca Film Festival data exposure allegedly revealed contact details of several Hollywood figures

The contact details of several high-profile Hollywood figures, including Angelina Jolie, Martin Scorsese and George Lucas, were reportedly exposed in an alleged data breach linked to the Tribeca Film Festival, raising renewed concerns over cybersecurity and the protection of personal information.

Cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler reportedly discovered a publicly accessible database labelled "contacts" shortly before the Tribeca Film Festival opened on June 3.

The database allegedly contained phone numbers, email addresses and device-related information belonging to actors, filmmakers and other industry figures.

The exposed records included contact information for Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence, Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Rami Malek, Sharon Stone and director Danny Boyle, alongside Jolie, Scorsese and Lucas.

Speaking to The Sun, Fowler said, “by far the biggest collection of celebrity data I've ever seen.”

Fowler said the records contained names, phone numbers and email addresses that could potentially have been exploited by cybercriminals.

He said he immediately notified Tribeca Film Festival organisers after discovering the exposed database, which was subsequently removed from public access.

In a blog post, Fowler said he did not download or retain the information. Instead, he reviewed only a limited number of records to verify the exposure before responsibly reporting the issue.

The database also contained technical information about users' devices, including versions of Apple's iPhone operating system, Safari browser versions and other software details linked to email accounts.

According to Fowler, such information could help cybercriminals create more convincing phishing emails, malware campaigns or other fraudulent schemes by tailoring attacks to a victim's specific devices and software.

The Tribeca Film Festival said it “takes matters of data security very seriously” and is actively investigating the incident.