Another Miley Mea Culpa

Annie Leibovitz apologizes for misinterpretation of her Miley Cyrus topless Vanity Fair shot

By Gina Serpe Apr 28, 2008 6:11 PMTags
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Miley Cyrus isn't the only one who's sorry about her bedsheet-donning photo flap.

Annie Leibovitz, the photographic auteur who conceived and ultimately snapped the controversial shot for Vanity Fair's glossy pages, has issued a mea culpa of her own—not for the image itself, mind you, but for the public's faulty impression of said shot.

"I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted," Leibovitz said in a statement released by the magazine. "Miley and I looked at fashion photographs together and we discussed the picture in that context before we shot it.

"The photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is very beautiful."

Which, apparently, is where the celebrated photographer differs from legions of Disney-subscribing parents, who, among other (some may say over-) reactions, have already threatened to host bonfires to rid their impressionable tweens of salacious-by-association Hannah Montana merchandise.

The 15-year-old star has already pleaded innocence via ignorance with respect to the shot, telling E! News over the weekend that she "took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed.

"I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about."