Miley Cyrus “Embarrassed” By Photos, Way Too Late For That Now
You know what, I have grown to HATE Disney’s influence on children. First it was Vanessa Hudgens with her full-on nude photo showing ALL her naughty bits — and never mind how Britney, Christina and Justin have grown up to be sexually explicit artists — but now we have Miley Cyrus aka “Hannah Montana” in nude photo shoots.
Well, I should say “artistically” nude. See, we don’t *actually* see anything other than the implied threat of her nudity as she is covered up with a sheet. Famed photographer Annie Leibowitz did the shoot for Vogue Magazine of Miley Cyrus and really should have known better, as should have Miley, her parents, her agent, her manager and anyone who really cares about the “Hannah Montana” franchise, which is estimated to be close to $1 billion dollars.
As could be predicted, Disney has responded to the photos being leaked out on the internet for the impending June Vogue issue, which comes on the heels of leaked photos showing Miley tarting it up in other picture (you can see those here), from the NYTimes:
But keeping a teenage entertainment franchise on track in an age when stars are monitored around the clock by bloggers and paparazzi is extremely difficult, even for a company with the experience of Disney. Executives are constantly battling to keep minor slipups from growing into full-blown controversies.
Last week, the public relations problem du jour was a green bra; photos online showing Ms. Cyrus pulling away her tank top to flash her underwear.
Ms. Cyrus and the “Hannah Montana†series have been championed as one of the few entertainment sanctuaries for children, complicating matters. Last month, Ms. Cyrus was chosen favorite television actress at Nickelodeon’s “Kids’ Choice Awards.â€
More than 3 million viewers regularly watch “Hannah Montana,†most of them age 6 to 14.
Media outlets, in particular the rabid celebrity-focused tabloids, have been pushing to capture new angles of the ubiquitous Ms. Cyrus. After popping up everywhere from the Academy Awards to “American Idol†in recent months, the only photos of her that are assured of selling are controversial ones.
A Disney spokeswoman, Patti McTeague, faulted Vanity Fair for the photo. “Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines,†she said.
The article, written by Bruce Handy, seems to support that claim, quoting Ms. Cyrus as saying, “Annie took, like, a beautiful shot, and I thought it was really cool. That’s what she wanted me to do, and you can’t say no to Annie.†She also said of the photo, “I think it’s really artsy. It wasn’t in a skanky way.â€
Well, in Disney’s defense, it seems they weren’t privy to this photoshoot’s outcome until it was leaked. So that puts the culpability squarely on Miley and her team, including her parents:
“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. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about.â€
Beth Kseniak, a spokeswoman for both Vanity Fair magazine and Ms. Leibovitz said, “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.â€
At the very least, Ms. Cyrus and her advisers do not seem to be on the same page as Disney. The company learned of the photo only when “Entertainment Tonight†started showing its promos.
Last week, Gary Marsh, the president of entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, was quoted in Portfolio magazine saying, “For Miley Cyrus to be a ‘good girl’ is now a business decision for her. Parents have invested in her a godliness. If she violates that trust, she won’t get it back.â€
You got that right Mr. Marsh. I will not be participating in further whoring and pimping on the part of Miley/Hannah. My daughter an aspiring singer/stage performer herself, looked up to Miley as a good role model. I allowed her to watch the shows and sing the songs. We’ve discussed this and we will be weaning her off of this show quickly replacing it with something far more appropriate to a preteen.
To be perfectly candid, between Miley, Vanessa and Jamie Lynn Spears, I am disgusted with today’s TV teen girls. The media, Disney and Nickelodeon have treated us parents as incredibly stupid. Young girls under the age of 18 should not be NUDE and PREGNANT. Ok, enough. Fire these girls or lose my business. I assure you I am NOT alone.
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I am sooooooo happy my daughter isn’t interested in Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus. It’s bad enough I had to talk to her about Vanessa Hudgens and her photos, because she’s a big HSM fan, without having to add Miley to the mix. And I’m not even sure she knows who Jamie Lynn is (thank God).
Frankly, I’m hugely disappointed in Billy Ray. I would have thought, as a father of a teenage girl, he would have had more sense.
Comment by k — April 27, 2008 @ 9:20 pm
ditto
Comment by JD — April 27, 2008 @ 9:23 pm
Ms. Leibovitz, i bet saw this a long way off. She did take the picture, no?
If it was Annie, i bet she still has a smirk that this was the public/media wanted.
Comment by GooD — April 27, 2008 @ 10:58 pm
I am a HUUUUGE Miley fan, and frankly she is still my role model. People, people MAKE MISTAKES, just because she is famous doesn’t mean she should be expected to be perfect. Also, she has apologized, what thats not good enough? She admitted it was a mistake and she is embaressed, and I even if she didn’t do that…I would’ve forgiven her, I don’t even see it as a big deal, I mean the Vanessa thing, that was big. She decided to just randomly take FULLY NUDE pictures to send to a guy! Miley on the other hand, did this for a magazine which was supposed to be artsy, and may I remind everyone…YA DONT SEE A THING! Geez, give her a break! I love you Miley!
Comment by Annoynomus — April 27, 2008 @ 10:59 pm
Oh, and also, I think she looks VERY beautiful and has nothing to be ashamed of
Comment by Annoynomus — April 27, 2008 @ 11:00 pm
I didn’t know that Anonymous had 12-year old girl members. Cool.
When you grow up and have kids some day, come back and talk to me Annoynomus. Seriously, you don’t get it, you are clearly toooooooooooooooo young.
Comment by D — April 27, 2008 @ 11:08 pm
Wait a minute, how old is she? 15? These photos are close to kiddie porn and are clearly sexual in nature. The photos are neither beautiful nor are they artistic. And since her father/family manage her career I just find the whole calculated event sickening.
And as far as the “everybody makes mistakes” comment…trust me, this was a carefully orchestrated maneuver so she is positioned to compete with all the other celebrity sluts very soon. Hell, if they could have gotten away with the “fully nude” shots and made a buck on it, my bet is that they would have done that too.
Billy Ray should be worrying about his “achey breaky soulâ€, not his heart.
What a bunch of slimes.
Comment by Sam — April 27, 2008 @ 11:42 pm
SHES A SLUTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!! OMG! slut…
Comment by Molly — April 28, 2008 @ 9:31 am
OMG SHE IS THE YOUNGEST SLUT I’VE EVEr seen besiDes SHERADEN!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Molly — April 28, 2008 @ 9:33 am
And the sexualization of children continues, with the approval of their parents no less.
This is just disgusting. In a few years she’ll be another Britnay/Lindsey/Paris. How nice.
Comment by Rachel — April 28, 2008 @ 10:27 am
#8/9, Miley is NOT a slut, she just made a really poor, selfish, greedy choice and sadly, her parents did nothing to dissuade her from doing so. This girl is 15, it is her parents job to counsel and protect her. They failed, really badly.
Comment by D — April 28, 2008 @ 10:53 am
PedoBear seal of approval?
Seriously, thats…messed up. Just, no. Please.
Comment by Anonymous — April 28, 2008 @ 11:04 am
It never ceases to amaze me how young teen celebrities inevitably end up being objectified as sexual objects. It seems that in order to be successful in this business you must make whores out of these young girls. Nude or near nude pictures of a 15 year old girl are never artful or tasteful irregardless of the photographer’s popularity. Can she not take a nice picture with cloths on? For that matter why must these young girls be protrayed as such if they want to make it to the next level and attract an older audience. Who are they marketing to? Not women that’s for sure. So as a society that on the surface is appaled by child porn where do we stop when this stuff ends up in so called credible main media? This may ruin her audience of young girls and her clean girl image. She is basically a franchise which goes beyond her music with all the marketing tie ins. Way to screw her career there Annie. And Billy Ray shame on you for exploiting or allowing others to exploit your own daughter. What a dad you are, yeah right.
Comment by Mitsu Too — April 28, 2008 @ 11:50 am
Too true Mitsu. And I find it very odd that this photo shoot happened after the other racy pix were released on her Myspace or whatever on the internet. Seems either very calculated or extremely stupid to me. And publicists don’t allow their people to make serial “mistakes” like that usually. It’s as if the previous “impromtu” pix were released so that the public would be prepared for these “official” racier photos. I call shenanigans on it all being an accident! :-p
It’s a shame that in the entertainment business that the term “growing up” has to be defined by acting slutty, rather than being defined by elegance, poise, grace, and intelligence. It’s the same old pattern every time — from innocent kiddy star, to “grownup” slutty star, to “now I have children and I’m not that type of person” star. Yawn.
Comment by Capcom — April 28, 2008 @ 1:04 pm
Parents and their kids that have values need to vote with their $$ and refuse to support this kind of exploitation. Career-wise it seems to demonstrate how out of control things have gotten. Miley and her handlers should learn from somebody like Paul Reubens, who had a career crash that took a decade to recover from.
Comment by Chip Gallo — April 28, 2008 @ 2:04 pm
The way it once was:
<a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_Funicello#Beach_icon_and_spokesperson”?Annette Funicello: Beach icon and spokesperson
Comment by Ron Newman — April 28, 2008 @ 3:02 pm
Looks like VF had second thoughts too…
http://gawker.com/384750/did-vanity-fair-already-pull-the-miley-cyrus-slideshow
What creepy idiots.
Comment by Sam — April 28, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
My youngest daughter has been a HUGE fan of Miley since the Hannah Montana show started. I always felt it was a good thing. My fiance , on the other hand, didn’t like her at all. We have argued about it for months now. I feel she made a very very poor decision, I also feel very disappointed in her parents. Our children are sexualized too much in our “modern” society and these pictures sicken me. My daughter will not be allowed to support this young actress now due to her poor choices both in regards to the VF shoot and the “private” pictures of her showing her underwear.
Angl
PS I’ve discussed this with my daughter and she agrees, she thinks Miley and her family, etc. “acted stupid”.
Comment by AnonAngl — April 28, 2008 @ 7:44 pm
I think the Liebowitz photos are gorgeous and in very good taste. I would have given my right arm to be photographed by Liebowitz at age 15.
The slutty photos are the ones she took of herself. And now she’s trying to play the “victim”? Give me a break. And Disney isn’t sexualizing anyone… their own parents are sexualizing them. To me she looks like every other 15 year old out there… tight clothes, skimpy mini skirts, shirts that say “Bitch” or “Slut”.
Believe me, I think she’s a talentless hack created to sell cheap Chinese merchandise. And now that she’s playing the victim card, it just makes me even less inclined to feel sorry for her.
Comment by Moses — April 28, 2008 @ 8:44 pm
Hi, this is the person who created comments 4 and 5. Most people disagree with what I said, but I don’t care. And to #6, I do get it…and I honestly think all this stuff makes her an even better role model, she has shown that depsite everything she still comes out of this a stronger person…which is what everyone girl should want, to learn from her mistakes and come out stronger…which is what Miley does. She works hard and I’m sure she doesn’t appreciate this kind of feedback. Besides, I saw the actual video to this photoshoot…the person who took pictures of her, made it a total scam…munipulated her, if anyone should be blamed its her. And the other pictures were just, as she said, “silly”. Geez, she is a young girl hanging with her boyfriend…I’m suuuure thats a crime. Also, my parents still see her as a great role model…they agree with me. These arent that bad, and anyone who can come out of this stronger and not listen to immature comments…is an extremley good role model. So I repeat, I love you Miley and support you 100%!
Comment by Annoynomus — April 28, 2008 @ 10:24 pm
To put these pictures in perspective - they’re actually LESS revealing then the bikinis most tweens (and even younger girls) wear to the pool, oftentimes bought by the parents themselves.
I saw the sexualization of Cyrus coming from a mile away. (Even as Hannah Montana she already looked tarted up.) The fact is, despite all the outrage, this is what pop culture is all about nowadays - just turn on MTV. A tween wants others to recognize that they’re MATURE - and unfortunately, that image of maturity is pole dancers and abused girlfriends in music videos. Frankly, it’s a self-respect issue: do you respect yourself enough to not feel like you have to promote your body to get a boyfriend or be successful in life?
Comment by Ella — April 29, 2008 @ 11:30 pm
miley is a moron.
i hope shes reading this!
also disney might want to show some of this stuff on Glosslip about their precious miley then she would have no fans
Comment by anonymous — June 21, 2008 @ 4:17 pm
omg u parents are like such hypocrites ru u rilly sure its her pics and not some tec geek who did that im not even a fan of her omg
y dont u tell yr kids bout sex it stn they need to no about and in this worlld weather ornot u tell them they will find out on tv in advertisements in skool
tell yr kids b4 they find out another waay its not a hard converation 4 gudness sakes theyll understand
Comment by MiSs FrEnChIE — July 14, 2008 @ 9:14 pm