ANNIE LEIBOVITZ - SNAP JUDGMENT OVER MILEY PHOTOS?

SNAP JUDGMENT OVER MILEY PHOTOS?

Famed celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz has responded to complaints about the photos that she took of teen star Miley Cyrus that appear in the current issue of Vanity Fair. Although news reports said that one of the photos depicted Cyrus "topless," it acutally shows her wrapped in what appears to be a bedsheet with only part of her back exposed. "Miley and I looked at fashion photographs together and we discussed the picture in that context before we shot it," Leibovitz said in a statement. "Th e photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is very beautiful." In a statement on Monday, Cyrus said that the Vanity Fair photos and story embarrassed her. In a separate statement, Disney accused the magazine of exploiting the teen star of Hannah Montana. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, TV critic Mary McNamara commented, "Disney is blaming Vanity Fair and Leibovitz for manipulating a 15-year-old into agreeing to poses that were not appropriate. As if no one in the Disney infrastructure or the Cyrus family had ever picked up Vanity Fair before. They should just be thanking their lucky stars Cyrus wasn't wearing fish nets or splayed on top of a car." On the Huffington Post blog, rabbi-to-the-stars Shmuley Boteach wrote that the photos should serve as "a major wake-up call to American parents. ... A strong message must be sent both to Vanity Fair and Disney that the sexual exploitation of a young girl for commercial profit is unacceptable."

29/04/2008