After news of Miley Cyrus’ new photo shoot with Vanity Fair emerged over the weekend, both the teen star and Disney reacted quickly.
Miley apologized and claimed she was duped into believing the Anne Leibovitz shots would be “artistic,” while Disney claimed “a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines.”
In turn, the magazine and Leibovitz responded just as fast. Vanity Fair said the teen star and her parents were pleased with the photos, which they saw digitally, shortly after they were shot. Leibovitz said she was sorry her photo was “misinterpreted,” and that she thought it was very “beautiful.”
Now the stars and the public are having their say, reacting to the photos, more of which emerged today.
The ladies of the “The View” were particularly vocal about what has become a scandal for the teen star.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck said she believed the Cyrus parents should have stepped in.
“This is a 15-year-old girl at the very base of it. She’s still under their responsibility,” Hasselbeck said. “I think at the base of it, at this point if you’re having your daughter pose for something like this and she’s 15 and you’re there, I think it can’t come down to company or it can’t come down to a magazine. If you’re 15, it comes down to your parents.”
Fellow “View” panelist Joy Behar had a stronger take.
“Could it be that Billy Ray Cyrus is resuscitating his career a little bit with this photograph?” Joy suggested. “And then you have another Lindsay Lohan situation where the parents are really getting in on it.”
And it wasn’t just the female stars who blamed Billy Ray Cyrus. Howard Stern took aim at the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer on his Sirius radio show.
“The picture disturbs me. It looks like his daughter is his girlfriend. He’s trying to be hot,” Stern said.
Jamie Lee Curtis, who made headlines for her supposed “nude” shots for the AARP magazine last month, weighed in on the scandal on Monday in a blog for the Huffington Post.
“We have watched them as they stumble out of the safety of childhood, into the glare of celebrity, rehab, prison, teen pregnancy and now this – a backless shot of a young girl,” Jamie wrote.
Curtis, however, noted that while she has sympathy for Cyrus, she does not believe the young star was tricked into the situation.
“Ms. Cyrus has apologized for something she was told would be artistic and now feels embarrassed about. I feel for her. Of course she is embarrassed. She is a young girl. She shouldn’t have to deal with any of this,” Curtis wrote. “I don’t feel that she was duped. I know the integrity of Ms. Liebovitz and the magazine and I know there were people present at the shoot that should have been looking out to make sure that this didn’t happen.”
And Rosie O’Donnell also defended the shoot on her Rosie.com blog.
“I also didn’t think it was a pornographic photo in any capacity,” Rosie said. “I thought it was sort of a beautiful portrait you know? I liked the one of her and her dad too. It’s Annie Leibovitz people. Leave Miley Cyrus alone. Disney making her apologize, aye ya ya.”
Hilary Duff, a former Disney star, who made the leap to the big screen and adulthood, said she feels for Cyrus.
“I think that she’s a really big talent and she’s a really sweet girl. I’ve met her many times and I’m sure she’s going through something,” Duff told Access.
But some conservative personalities have reacted strongly.
A spokesperson for the Christian coalition has called for Disney to reprimand their “Hannah Montana” star, while Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly of “The O’Reilly Factor,” feels Cyrus made a serious error in judgment.
“She becomes a sex symbol. Now Middle America, which is driving all of this merchandise and watches, they don’t like this,” he said.
So what do you think? Thousands voted on AccessHollywood.com and 62% of you find the shots inappropriate.
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