Only someone who knows the market can maximize the profit. These pictures would make a lot of money at the hand of specific low/high (depend on the view) magazines, on someone would wanna destroy JLaw's reputation or as ransom... How much money would JLaw pay for the original files?
However, how many people do you think can answer the above questions??
It's like when someone steals a huge pile of jewelery. He steals it, but he needs the mob to sell it... Otherwise he can't monetize.
A bit of a tangent, but it's worth noting that the amount JLaw should rationally be prepared to pay for the original files is zero. If you pay a ransom in a situation like that, all that will happen is a) the guy will take the money and then sell the pictures anyway, and b) you set a precedent that you can be blackmailed, which means the next blackmailer might come up with something worse than some rectangles of RGB pixels.
However, how many people do you think can answer the above questions??
It's like when someone steals a huge pile of jewelery. He steals it, but he needs the mob to sell it... Otherwise he can't monetize.