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Exposed Miley Claims Innocence

By Matthew B. Zeidman

HOLLYWOOD, CA (RUSHPRNEWS) 4/28/08 – On the heels of two earlier controversies involving semi-nude photos leaked on the Internet, “Hannah Montana” star Miley Cyrus is now decrying racy photos of herself scheduled to be published this week in the June issue of “Vanity Fair.”“I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed,” Cyrus, 15, said in a statement Sunday. “I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about.” , the stark and haunting image features what appears to be a topless Cyrus

staring into the camera over her right shoulder, covering herself with a white bedsheet. According to an anonymous source quoted by People magazine, she was actually clothed underneath the fabric during shooting.

TV newsmagazine “Entertainment Tonight” was the first to reveal one of the portraits on Friday, followed by “The New York Times” on its Web site two days later. Taken by famed celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Disney, the company that launched Cyrus’ wildly popular “Hannah Montana” sitcom, is falling behind the star, releasing a statement that read, “Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines.”

The photos immediately above are not Annie photos, but what caused Miley’s controversy last week. Hollywood Today reader comments were even split if they were photo-shopped fakes or real, but they are real. Bottom line is that she is both a regular teen and a suddenly famous actress, so despite her youth, is not embarrassed about her body. Yet because of her young audience, she needs to keep apologizing over showing it.

The accusation by Disney is apparently in reference to a declaration made by Cyrus in “Vanity Fair’s” accompanying interview. Said Cyrus, “That’s what she wanted me to do, and you can’t say no to Annie [Leibovitz].” However, the article also quoted the tween idol expressing her fondness for the shirtless photo and defending it as “artsy” and not “skanky.”

“Vanity Fair” and Leibovitz are standing firmly behind the Cyrus feature. Speaking to “The New York Times” through a spokeswoman, they claimed that the young luminary was accompanied by her parents and representatives when the images were taken and that all in attendance viewed electronic copies of the photos and agreed to their tastefulness.

Leibovitz, 58, has taken photographs of countless VIPs since the early 1970s. She worked as chief photographer for “Rolling Stone” magazine from 1973 to 1983 before accepting her current position as “Vanity Fair’s” featured portrait photographer. Among her many accomplishments was a 1980 photo shoot with John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, done just hours before the untimely death of the former Beatles member.

Click here  for additional Miley Cirus stories

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