Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander isn't really defending girlfriend Kate Upton after hackers leaked several naked pictures of the Sports Illustrated model without her permission. Verlander also appears in some of the pictures.
Before a game against the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday, the 31-year-old baseball player declined commenting on his personal life, the Associated Press reported. Over the holiday weekend, nude photos of Verlander and Upton surfaced online.
"I'm not going to comment on my personal life," Verlander said. "I never have, and I never plan on it. I keep my personal life personal. The focus for me is on the Detroit Tigers. I don't want to take any focus away from this team and what we're trying to accomplish. We're in the middle of a pennant race. We're trying to win a pennant. And all of my focus currently is on doing whatever I can to help our team win our division."
The athlete said he knew the media wanted his side of the story, but his focus remains on baseball.
"I know a couple of guys wanted to get some questions from me yesterday," Verlander said. "Instead of everybody kind of sneaking around and getting questions at specific times, it's just easier to say, 'I'm not commenting on that. I'm trying to win a pennant.' I know some guys are probably getting a lot of pressure from other people to get quotes or whatever. I knew I'd be getting a lot of questions. This is it."
Upton's lawyer, Lawrence Shire, recently confirmed that the nude photos are real, and stated that the model plans to take legal action against those trying to share the images. He told Buzzfeed that the leaks were "obviously an outrageous violation of our client Kate Upton's privacy."
In July, Upton told Details that social media has prevented her from posing nude.
"For me, those photos are art. Your body is art, your body is beautiful, and to be photographed in that way is amazing and it's received in a very positive way," she explained. "But with social media and the Internet and not so great blogs and the attention like that, I don't think that my pictures would be received in the way that I'd want them to be received. That's why I've stayed away from them."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Monday that it will be looking into the recent hacking incident.
