Miley Cyrus doesn’t regret this controversial Vanity Fair cover
“F*****e,” she said of Annie Leibovitz’s photos that sparked a lot of controversy
Miley being Miley, again.
Miley Cyrus can only regret one thing: having regretted it.
In 2008, Annie Leibovitz photographed Miley, then 15, for the cover of Vanity Fair. One of the images showed the Hannah Montana protagonist nearly shirtless, barely covered by a sheet. Also, in another image, the singer appeared curled up on the lap of her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, sparking a series of critics who called the session “inappropriate”.
Ten years after that controversial moment, Miley blamed the New York Post for publishing the sensational headline “MILEY’S SHAME” with “I DON’T REGRET IT, FUCKING…”.
10 years ago, before the photos were published, Miley didn’t seem so worried about the possibility of generating controversy. “I mean, I have a big blanket on me, and I was like, ‘This is really pretty, really natural,'” she told the magazine. “I think it’s really artistic.” Later, under pressure, Miley was forced to issue a public apology for doing this.
“My goal with my music and my acting is to make people happy. On Vanity Fair, I was very honored and excited to work with Annie. I did my part in the filming, which was supposed to be” artistic” and now, seeing the photos and reading the story, I’m ashamed,” she added. “It was never my intention for this to happen and I apologize to my fans, who I care too much about.”
In a separate statement, Leibovitz said, “I’m so sorry the portrait of Miley was misunderstood. Miley and I reviewed the photos and discussed the photo before taking it…A simple, classic portrait. . I think it’s beautiful.” .
I’M NOT SORRY
Kiss my ass
#10 years ago
pic.twitter.com/YTJmPHKwLX— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus)
April 29, 2018
At the time, Hannah Montana was one of Disney Channel’s most popular — and prolific — shows. A spokesperson for the channel said: “Unfortunately, as the article suggests, this was a situation created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old girl in order to sell magazines.” A rep for the magazine, meanwhile, said “Miley’s parents, or mentors, were there all day…”.
Shortly after, Billy Ray shared his impressions on the Today show: “I felt like everything was under control,” he said. “Her publicist was there…I had no idea she would be stripped naked and covered with a sheet.” He said he was “surprised” by the session, “but things happen, that’s life”. The singer also added that he never spoke with Miley about the controversial shoot after the criticism rained down, and quoted a line from his dad: “The more you step on c***, the more it sucks.”
As for the photo he took with his daughter, he laughed and told Meredith Vieira, “I’m sorry if I offended anyone. He’s just a father who loves his daughter very much.”
The last time Miley addressed the outrageous shoot was in 2015. “Our world revolves around sex. When I did that photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz I was 14 or 15, everyone jumped about it being sexual. But I never thought about it.” “Annie never thought of taking a sexual photo of a teenager,” she told TIME, “but they all did something that wasn’t.”
