Investigating The Miley Cyrus 'Topless' Photo Scandal: Career-Ender Or Standard Starlet Move?
Posted by Molly Friedman at 9:30 AM on April 29, 2008
Vanity Fair has done it again. In their upcoming issue, famed photographer Annie Leibovitz shot a controversial photo spread featuring Billion Dollar Girl Miley Cyrus, prompting public outrage from the Christian Coalition, Disney and, naturally, the ladies of The View. Leibovitz and VF are being accused of crossing the line between art and pedophilia by shooting Cyrus in what some are calling "topless" photos (shown after the jump). Before the issue has even hit newsstands, Miley has apologised to her fans and Disney, concerned that the spread could affect the Hannah Montana cash cow. But this isn't the first time VF has hired one of their star photographers to use her lens in an effort to reinvent the images of underage starlets by featuring them in a slightly more provocative and mature light...

Hayden Panettiere posed in a very pin-up girl series of poses in this past December issue, Lindsay Lohan went fully topless in their January 2006 issue, and Nicole Richie played Moulin Rouge dancer, baring her tiny butt in the May 06 VF. While none of the three girls were underage (Hayden had just turned 18), the photos are far more soft-core porny than Miley's somewhat glamorous black and white snapshot.

And, as we all recall, the July 2003 cover of VF was all about "raining teens," featuring the likes of Amanda Bynes, the Olsens, and Lindsay Lohan long before they became the powerhouses they are today. More importantly, the underage stars were all shot looking like adults. They were sexy. They were pouting. The cover officially transformed them from smiley untouchable kids to Lolitas.
So, here's what we're wondering. What exactly is so horrifying about seeing Hannah Montana, from behind, covering herself up with a sheet? We've already seen her in short skirts on stage, and cleavage-enhancing dresses on red carpets. All we see here is her back. Frankly, the scandal heard round the world isn't breaking our eardrums. And we sincerely hope Disney agrees.

Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Elisa
Posted May 3, 2008 2:43 AM
This is so wrong, Miley Cyrus used to be my role model and now she has disrespected herself for money. I think that now she will turn out like all the other sick actresses who got fame to early!
amy
Posted May 4, 2008 5:17 AM
im not agreeing with what miley cyrus has done, nor disagreing, yet every one is saying she is topless meanwhile all we see is her back, we have seen clevage, seen her in short skirts and shorts, so now what we see is her back...as if she were wearing a dress but with no back...now how bad is this, yes im a bit disapointed with what she has done,and so are many others are also, but hopefully she doesnt begin to act as other acters do,this is my opinion yet her being nude or not is up to her and none of anyones buisness but her.
Maximus
Posted May 8, 2008 11:53 AM
people. are your seriously chatting about a actress's choice. for petes sakes if you do not want to see it or your children to see it or don't think the are mature enough to handle it. DONT LET THEM access it on the internet OR watch the show.
and seriously don't complain about not wanting to restrict thier freedoms and all that blah blah. if they do not have enough respect for you morons to respect your wishes.Then you need to do a better job ...cuz if they dont respect you that much.. you suck ..lol...
if you have any complaints email me at my adress (Runescape_g2k_14@hotmail.com)
Notice: DO NOT BE A IDIOT AND POST LIKE CRAZY HERE..I'M SURE THE Admin/moderator..or w/e they call themselves would not appreciate it.
Reverend
Posted May 8, 2008 3:59 PM
This is a load I saw nothing wrong with these pictures. Nothing is exposed and she looks pretty. There is a war going on and there has got to be something more important to talk about.
Laughing
Posted May 13, 2008 3:22 AM
Enough of the angst, get real, it was all intentional, we are being played. Can anyone believe that her handlers (Billy Ray) didn't orchestrate the whole thing? They make millions, I am sure they don't miss a trick.
They probably prepared her message of apology, shock and surprise after they instructed that the pics be taken and approved them for publication.
This is just her handlers positioning their property. This is the Britney Spears business model, when the wholesome teen image begins to age out move on to soft porn pop singer. Fifteen is about the age where they release some teenie-tease pics to titilate the public (followed of course by backpedaling noises to keep her concession -for now- as a wholesome Disney star).
All very white-trash stuff, I am sure her father Billy Ray is beaming, laughing at all the letters of sympathy over how the evil magazine used her.
Jessica
Posted May 14, 2008 4:18 AM
Honestly look at that picture, now imagine it as a painting it looks like hundreds of other portraits and paintings hanging in our art museums this picture is not racey or scandolous and it actually shows less skin the most of her outfits. this is a fairly innocent picture from a teen girl. how many other teen girls myspace pages hold pictures to the same effect or worse? we all forget that Miley is just a teenage girl like the rest of the worlds teenage girls. she has the same problems, wants, and needs. its not fair for us to give her the third degree if we arent gonna do the same to every other teenager out there.
Molly
Posted May 16, 2008 10:53 AM
i can't believe i even looked up to her
cassie
Posted May 16, 2008 11:49 PM
miley is supposed to be a role model for all ages of people, and with this picture shes not doing a fabulous job at it, personally i think she will end up another druggy, constantly partying
piece of hollywood.
Natalie
Posted May 19, 2008 10:37 AM
This is bs. she intended to do this and ohh well. its art. im sure none of the people that are against her know what real art is then if they are making it such a huge deal. its a picture of her just without a top. and guess what? shes covered by a little something called a sheet. do you see anything? no. so whats the big deal? if she were just a normal 15 year old girl like the character she plays on her show would any of you make this such a big deal? no. so just leave the girl alone.
Rob
Posted May 21, 2008 7:35 AM
You People need to stop complaining its her choice not yours so mind your own buisiness
Carol
Posted May 28, 2008 2:01 AM
Give the girl a break so what maybe she shouldn't have taken those pics but in reality people have to understand she is after all a teenager and teenagers are liable to make mistakes. I understand that the public tends to critize child celebrities more often than not because they are supposed to portray a perfect child that never does something wrong. Reality however shows that they are just regular kids who just happen to appear in T.V. or have music careers. Does anyone stop and think what celebrity they look up to?
Mochael
Posted June 5, 2008 2:17 PM
fucking miley rocks she is the shit what ya ppls talking bout her pixx and shit fuck all yall she the best//..yall understandd?!!?!
katie
Posted June 15, 2008 4:34 AM
i think this is all a bunch of crap. i have a daughter about her age and the dress she wore for her last dance showed more than this. its just not that bis a deal.. plus we have better things to talk about maybe the war idk just an idea
along
Posted June 20, 2008 10:14 AM
All of yu who were comlaining about Miley and saying rude things about her, you're all idiots. Don't just look at something and think you know the situation. Don't let your respect wander because of this. Asess the situation. Don't jump to conclutions and decide your disition is the right one. How do you know? Before saying anything, before even THINKING what ou think is right, remember. You. Don't. Know. What's. Right. Or. Wrong. In. This. Situation. So DON'T jump to conclutions you morons. And this is coming from someone who isn't even in high school. For Heaven's sake!
Onny
Posted June 28, 2008 8:15 AM
I'll keep this for myself. And never tell my daughter about this.
Phil
Posted June 30, 2008 5:20 PM
what is wrong with you people, you dont own her its her body and there is nothing wrong with breasts! all girls have them. put your bible away she is showing girls that you should be proud of you body and be happy with waht you got, whats your problem are you ashamed of your body? are you jelous of hers' why dont you worry bout your own conduct and leave her alone instead of using her photo's te elevate yourselves to some sort of devine level. wake up and see that it her right and you are NOBODY to judge her!
DARI
Posted July 8, 2008 1:25 PM
THIS IS TO Maximus!!!!
you comment about milly being an actress n her being able to do whatever she wanted to do is true...but not being a Disney kids role model as well. you see what people dont understand is that women dont just dress provocative to feel good about themselves but also for attention (mostly for men). n its not just my opinion its statistics. for a young girl to see milly as a role model and to see or hear about the pics could affect her in ether two ways; one she would ether be heartbroken or she would see that its ok to take topless pics even if its not showing much. and as for you to say that comment about parent not doing their job right if kid dont do what they say is very naive of you. parents could restrict their children from watching the program to avoid them to follow milly as a role model..but that kid would still hear about it from school friends or where ever...and would still wana be like her ether way. actresses and actors know that children are going to want to be like them and they know that they are going to be their role models when they get into a carrier with Disney and other kid shows or movies..that is why it is not often that you see them in this predicament. they dont use bad language for a reason and they dont do nude pics, or dress outrageous for a reason. milly even feels ashamed for how she showed herself in those pics because she knows it was wrong and she knows that young girl do look up to her. so who are you really trying to defend here cuz milly even thinks it was wrong.
seraiah
Posted July 28, 2008 8:50 AM
please!!leave this girl alone!you would do the same thing for all that money.plus,it look fun,I would love to pose for the whole world to see my pretty face and body.heck!!her body isn't even showing and this was a long time ago and she already said sorry.forget this.I still look up to her.right now,I am worried about the gas prices.this isn't important
hughman
Posted 8:33 AM 29/4/08
or a Les Miserables poster.
hughman
Victor Ward
Posted 8:20 AM 29/4/08
She looks like Linda Blair.
Victor Ward
Leviticus_71
Posted 8:13 AM 29/4/08
She looks like a Chris Isaak video.
Leviticus_71
NoWireHangers
Posted 7:58 AM 29/4/08
In our post post post modern society where everything is a simulation and nothing is real/original anymore, the line between whore and starlet is too blurred to be discernible. Case in point the picture of Elliot Spitzer's prostitute clutching her breasts. Who did it first, the hooker or the pop tart? Who the hell knows anymore.
Just get drunk before your head explodes.
NoWireHangers
bess marvin, girl detective
Posted 7:55 AM 29/4/08
i don't see anything sexual about the raining teens cover. okay, maybe mandy moore is eyefucking us, but the rest look fine to me.
hasn't Vanity Fair tired of Annie and her covers? the starlet group shots are only interesting to visit years later to see which ones made it and which ones fell.
bess marvin, girl detective
princessxenu
Posted 7:46 AM 29/4/08
NOT a big deal. I think the big deal is that Disney has been grooming these kids to be totally sexy since day one. They have a 14 year old girl doing this sexy, pouty version of Cruella De Vil at the end of the new Dalmations video. I wouldn't let my kids watch it. This is tepid compared to her myspace photos. What a bunch of bullshit to sell magazines.
princessxenu
raincoaster
Posted 8:56 AM 29/4/08
Oh, come on. Miley Cyrus looks like she just lived through "The Story of O" for god's sake. What happened after? Annie gave her a cigarette and her cell number? It's creepy.
Nothing wrong with the Teen Cover except the fact that Lohan already looked 30.
raincoaster
MsMuffinMcGuffin
Posted 8:55 AM 29/4/08
She looks like one of those LIFETIME movies... "Tory, Portrait Of a Teenage Hooker" or something.
MsMuffinMcGuffin
mothrafairy
Posted 8:39 AM 29/4/08
Oh...and Annie is an overrated boob.
mothrafairy
nick_r
Posted 9:30 AM 29/4/08
BREAKING: MILEY CYRUS NUDE SCANDAL!!!
New allegations have surfaced suggesting that Miley Cyrus showers every morning completely nude. Representatives from Disney could not immediately be reached for comment.
nick_r
Decebal
Posted 10:55 AM 29/4/08
It's not the bare back, she looks like she just rolled off of the Jonas brothers. All three of them!!!
I must be getting old, but at 15 she does not need to look like a 30 year old woman. Can't she wait until she is 19 to look 30?
Decebal
WasatchMan
Posted 10:55 AM 29/4/08
The girl from "The Ring."
WasatchMan
charles_barrett
Posted 12:47 PM 29/4/08
Not scandalous. Not licentious. Perhaps a bit avant garde for a provencial American teen from the fly-over states, but hell, Annie knows how to shoot a tasteful nude, and in this Miley in IN NO WAY nude. She has nothing to be embarrassed about. We puritanical 'murricans are the ones who ought to be "embarrassed and ashamed..."
charles_barrett
ObtuseIntolerant
Posted 1:54 PM 29/4/08
What's gross is she is 15, and she looks tousled and recently bedded...don't feign obtuseness, we all know what it infers. And it's for a magazine for grown-ups.
It does not bear comparison to the age-appropriate sensuality (yes, there is such a thing!!) of TigerBeat or the girl from the Cruella DeVil video.
We're sexual creatures from a young age. It's just a matter of how detailed you want to get, and how much you want to blur the lines between youthful sensuality and adult sexuality.
I think this crosses the line.
ObtuseIntolerant
Little Mintz Sunshine
Posted 1:48 PM 29/4/08
That fabric she's holding represents ten times the fabric I used to wear at her age when I mowed the lawn.
Little Mintz Sunshine
CatherineTrammell
Posted 6:18 PM 29/4/08
Not a big deal. She's just four years closer to marrying a back-up dancer, popping out two kids, shaving her head, having a nervous breakdown, and playing the girlfriend to some bitchy gay actor on a bad sitcom.
In four years we will look back on this and remember "the good old days."
CatherineTrammell
cinerama
Posted 7:31 PM 29/4/08
Are Billy Ray and Miley's publicity folks really so daft as to not know that this would be the ultimate outcome of Leibovitz' suggestions?
Further, "take your clothes off and here's a sheet" should have been a slight clue.
Bottom line is it's not surprising Leibovitz posed these photos, but the question is, art or not, why they agreed to them.
Unless this is just the latest PR move to keep her empire rolling in dough so she can make the jump from Disney star to "real" actress in Hollywood.
cinerama
raincoaster
Posted 6:47 PM 29/4/08
I'm not American. I was born in France, for god's sake. But this is supposed to be sexy. And she is topless. And you're not supposed to take sexy, topless photos of fifteen-year-olds.
It's. Just. Creepy.
raincoaster
Scooter34
Posted 9:41 PM 29/4/08
It's not the pictures I object to - it's the Cyruses pitching Miley as a wholesome, good-for-you role model kind of girl, and then turning around and permitting suggestive pictures to be published in a national magazine. I had no problem with the Britney pics, nor Brooke Shields or AJ - they weren't selling all-American goodness.
At least they should wait until she's seventeen before trying to "glamorize" her image.
Scooter34
DexterRiley
Posted 10:25 PM 29/4/08
@ObtuseIntolerant:
Good on you. Exactly; she's supposed to look like she just got nailed. And that's seriously wrong.
And let's not forget, despite all the excuse-making: technically, Daddy Cyrus as the guardian, broke the law here in California.
DexterRiley
dluvvly
Posted 11:42 PM 29/4/08
How long until the nude Elizabeth Hasselback photos and/or sex tape make their way to the Internets? And at what age?
dluvvly
Honeybhind
Posted 2:05 AM 30/4/08
what's the hulabaloo - grand theft auto 4 is okay but god forbid a girl shows her back.
Honeybhind
Tenno
Posted 2:44 AM 30/4/08
Hannah Does Montana!
OK, ok, I know. That's wrong. And too early.
Tenno
the Librarian
Posted 3:50 AM 30/4/08
Hanna Montana is one of the most annoying shows ever on television -- ever! It is more annoying than that one where the chimp was a detective -- and less watchable.
the Librarian
gawksFromaRock
Posted 9:49 AM 30/4/08
Bunch of fuckin Puritans, still, 250 years later.
gawksFromaRock
JacobFreeze
Posted 6:40 PM 3/5/08
@Honeybhind: Exactly right about Grand Theft Auto and the National Program for All Teens Everywhere...
Lots of bangbang, but no kisskiss.
JacobFreeze
mrtrailsafety
Posted 3:03 AM 4/5/08
Disney's not called "Duckau" and "Mouschwitz" for nothing.
mrtrailsafety