Oh My... Miley! G-Rated Star Appears in PG-13 Photos

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

28 Apr 2008 12:02 PM

So, by now I'm sure you are well aware of the whole Miley Cyrus provocative photo brouhaha.

For those of you who have been blissfully living in a media-free world allow me to give you an update:

The 15-year-old squeaky-clean Disney star might want to stay away from digital cameras for a while. The teen is currently embroiled in two front-page controversies both of which involve racy pictures of her.

Last week the singer-actress went on the defensive when "playfully provocative" photos of her posing on her ex-boyfriend's lap showed up on the Internet. (Cyrus called them "silly.") In one shot the Disney star's midriff is exposed as she drapes herself over the lap of her producer's son. Another picture shot by one of Cyrus' pals shows part of the singing sensation's bra.

Fast forward to today when images taken of Cyrus for a yet-to-be released Vanity Fair photo shoot made their way onto to practically every TV morning show, newspaper and Internet site known to man. World-renown professional photographer Annie Leibovitz, whom Cyrus said she trusted implicitly, shot the risqué photos.

Turns out the photos that the teen thought were going to be "artistic" are being classified by the masses as "too racy" and "extremely inappropriate." The backlash prompted the teen to issue a public apology to her young fans. (Cyrus said after seeing the photos and reading the accompanying article she is "so embarrassed.")

In one of the shots taken by Leibovitz Cyrus appears to be topless (she's actually covered by a sheet).

I'm sure that's the picture that prompted Cyrus' bosses at Disney to commence with damage control this morning.

Execs at the Disney Channel, which airs Cyrus's series "Hannah Montana," said in a public statement: "Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines."

I should note that the teen's parents accompanied her to the Vanity Fair photo shoot. (In fact Cyrus' famous father Billy Ray posed for a few shots with Miley that were published as well.) However, sources that were present at the shoot are now saying that Cyrus' parents left before Leibovitz convinced Miley to strip down for the sheet shot. (The teen's grandmother and teacher reportedly oversaw those photos.)

Cyrus' parents say they are mortified by the pictures of their teen daughter draped in a sheet and blame Vanity Fair for the negative exposure.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for both Vanity Fair and Leibovitz told a New York newspaper: "Miley's parents and/or minders were on the set all day. Since the photo was taken digitally, they saw it on the shoot and everyone thought it was a beautiful and natural portrait of Miley."

Have you seen the pictures? What do you think?

Personally, I think Cyrus should have just said the girl in the photos was her body double.

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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deedee1231 (4030) 28 Apr 2008 12:23 PM

I have seen the pictures and I am not at all suprised by her lack of judgement in posing for them. I have been pretty unimpressed with Miley Cyrus from the gitgo and I grow rather tired of all the hype on how she is about the only positive role model around for teen girls. She is the exact same age as my oldest daughter down to the month of birth and my daughter has more sense than her by a mile, so why would I want my teen looking up to her as a role model?!?!?!

But to be fair, although I consider it a very poor decision to pose for risque pics at the tender age of 15, they are not nearly as bad as I expected them to be after hearing the story on the radio. She is, at least, covered if not clothed. And her parents should have never left her there on her own. They are allowing her to grow up way too fast.

Libby Pelham (12871) 28 Apr 2008 04:33 PM

"...deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines?" Please, we are talking about Annie Leibovitz here, not some sleazy back alley photographer. But she did start out at Rolling Stone, so if the poses were a bit racy, it should be par for the course considering who the photographer was.

And even if, by some freak chance, Miley didn't see the photos digitally during the shot (which I doubt), did she not know she was naked with a sheet over her? I find it hard to believe that Lebovitz took advantage of Miley right in front of her parents!

deedee1231 (4030) 28 Apr 2008 05:45 PM

I really do not doubt that there was a bit of manipulation going on here...I mean isn't it a little suspicious that the girl was not asked to disrobe untill her parents had left the set of the photo shoot for some reason? If the photographer wasn't trying to manipulate her, why didn't she ask her to change into the bed sheet in front of her father?

But she still shouldn't have gone along with it...but then again, she is only fifteen and can not be expected to handle herself with the bearing of an adult. She is a kid and kids mess up. And no 15 year old kid is any match for an adult who is well versed in their trade and who has an ulterior motive. And I know her grandma and her tutor were there with her, but her parents should have stayed with her. If she were mine I would have stayed with her.

Michele Cheplic (37339) 29 Apr 2008 04:42 AM

I would have stayed too, though in all honesty I think the shots taken by her pal of her on her boyfriend's lap and the ones shot down her shirt of her cleavage are more disturbing than the Vanity Fair ones. Thanks for the comments ladies.