Miley & her Dad ~ Vanity Fair Photo shoot
An apologetic Annie Leibovitz says the controversy surrounding
Vanity Fair photographs, which feature Disney teen sensation Miley Cyrus, is a matter of interpretation.
"I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley has been
misinterpreted," the celebrity photographer said in a statement Monday.
"Miley and I looked at fashion photographs together and we discussed
the picture in that context before we shot it. The photograph is a
simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it
is very beautiful."
The 15-year-old actress/singer posed for
Leibovitz for the magazine's June issue, on sale in New York and Los
Angeles on Wednesday and nationwide May 6. One waist-up shot shows
Cyrus looking provocatively over her right shoulder, her back nude and
breasts covered by her arms and shimmery fabric. Behind-the-scenes
pictures from the shoot are posted at VF.com.
In a caption with the image in the magazine, Disney's
Hannah Montana star tells
VF:
"I think it's really artsy. It wasn't in a skanky way. Annie took,
like, a beautiful shot, and I thought that was really cool. That's what
she wanted me to do, and you can't say no to Annie. She's so cute. She
gets this puppy-dog look and you're like, 'OK.' "
But by Sunday, Cyrus apparently had changed her
mind. "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," she said in a statement issued by her publicist, Jill
Fritzo. "I never intended for any of this to happen, and I apologize to
my fans who I care so deeply about."
Disney Channel also took the offensive by
issuing a statement. "Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a
situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order
to sell magazines."
Cyrus is a popular Disney celebrity with the hit
Hannah Montanaseries and "Best of Both Worlds" concert, which became a top-selling
live show, 3-D concert film and now album. Last week, the album became
available at all retailers and jumped from No. 31 to No. 3, according
to Nielsen SoundScan. Disney Book Group announced last week that Cyrus
would share her "inspiring" story, from her roots in Tennessee to
hitting the big time, in a book due in 2009.
How did VF respond to the Cyrus camp's offensive
on Sunday? "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,"
said a statement from spokeswoman Beth Kseniak.
Another photo in the package features Miley posing with her father, singer Billy Ray Cyrus.
In December, another set of photos circulated on
the Internet showing Cyrus and a girlfriend almost kissing. "It was
me," Cyrus tells
VF, "on my MySpace. For me, I was like, That's two girls — it's not a big deal. … I was just like it didn't affect me."
As if the
VF shots weren't enough, the
teen star addressed yet another set of candid shots that circulated
last week on the Internet. In the latest batch of leaked pictures,
Cyrus, her midriff exposed, is shown draped over the lap of her
then-boyfriend, her producer's son. Another photograph is of the star
displaying a hint of a green bra.
"The pictures of me on the Internet were silly,
inappropriate shots," she tells People.com. "I appreciate all the
support of my fans, and hope they understand that along the way I am
going to make mistakes and I am not perfect. I never intended for any
of this to happen, and I am truly sorry if I have disappointed anyone."
Subject: Miley Cyrus' Vanity Fair Photo Shoot 
Did Disney drop Miley over this issue? I haven't heard that yet. 