May 1, 2008 - Disney Channel star Miley Cyrus at the Magic Kingdom to promote the Disney Channel Games in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
(Garth Vaughan/Disney)More Photos
Did she or didn't she mean it?
That's the question at the heart of l'affaire Miley Cyrus, a firestorm lit last week by a series of Vanity Fair photographs featuring the billion-dollar-baby flashing some skin.
On one hand: Before the pictures pinged around the globe, Cyrus expressed regret and embarrassment, and Disney insisted that the 15-year-old "Hannah Montana" star had been manipulated.
On the other: Widely viewed video of the shoot shows a cooperative Cyrus posing at length with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus.
Team Cyrus has moved on, returning to bubble-gum form to promote the Disney Channel Games in Orlando, including a concert Saturday. Miley didn't refer to the photo flap from stage. But, the Associated Press reports, she saw a sign in the crowd that said, "Miley I'm praying for you." She responded: "I can't be more appreciative of that."
Much of the lingering discussion over Cyrus' magazine appearance falls into two camps: those who criticize the move and take issue with both the singer's age and her parents' judgment, and others who attribute the incident to the pressures inherent in transforming teen stardom into adult success.
"When she turns 17, the Disney machine will essentially throw Miley away, replacing her with another great young singer who is waiting in the wings," says Erik DeSando, president of BE Productions and a talent agent for children and teens. "She's got to think about that transition to the next phase."
In fact, Cyrus offering her bare back to Annie Leibovitz's fabled lens is almost a celebrity rite of passage — a tame one even. Other underage ingénues have consciously upped the image-makeover ante: "7th Heaven" star Jessica Biel posed for almost-naked shots in Gear magazine, and Dakota Fanning did a carefully choreographed rape scene in "Hounddog." On the guy side, "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe spiced up his rep by performing nude in the erotic play "Equus."
Often, the blistering buzz is worth the gamble. Back in 1978, preteen model Brooke Shields played a prostitute in "Pretty Baby." Controversy followed, but her career has trucked along ever since.
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