Entertainment

MILEY CYRUS APOLOGIZES FOR POSING SEMINUDE

Miley Cyrus, the 15-year-old TV sensation, today apologized for posing seminude in a provocative photo taken by celebrity shutterbug Annie Leibovitz.

“I 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,” said Miley, who has shot to stardom playing “Hannah Montana” on cable’s Disney Channel.

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

The “nude” photo, showing her posed in profile clutching a blanket to her chest with her back bare, is one of several shots of the teenager scheduled to appear in the June issue of Vanity Fair.

In her interview with the magazine, she said the picture is “really artsy,” but not “in a skanky way.”

“You can’t say no to Annie,” Miley said. “She’s so cute. She gets this puppy-dog look, and you’re like, OK.”

Vanity Fair defended its use of the photo. “Miley’s parents and/or minders were on the set all day,” a spokesman told “Entertainment Tonight.”

“Since the photo was taken digitally, they saw it on the shoot, and everyone thought it was a beautiful and natural portrait of Miley.”

The magazine added that when its reporter Bruce Handy interviewed her, “He asked her about the photo and she was very cheerful about it and thought it was perfectly fine.”

The Disney Channel – apparently worried about how the controversial photo would affect the image of the star’s wholesome “Hannah Montana” alter ego – blasted Vanity Fair.

“Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines,” it told ET.

Miley drew heat last week after photos of her pulling down her tank top to reveal a lime-green bra circulated on the Internet.

Miley/Hannah, one of the most famous young performers in the world, is projected to be worth $1 billion by the time she’s 18, but claims she doesn’t feel many of the pressures of her grueling business. “That’s what my parents are for,” she tells the mag. “They’re there to take care of that, and I can just do what I love.”

Her dad is singer Billy Ray Cyrus, who poses with Miley in the photo shoot. Miley admits that she does miss aspects of a more normal life, like going to school (she attends classes for three hours every weekday on the set of her show), although she’s not assigned any homework.

The ratings of “Hannah Montana” are second only to “American Idol’s.” Miley has two multiplatinum records, a sold-out concert tour with an accompanying concert film, and a plethora of Miley Cyrus/”Hannah Montana” fan gear, including lunchboxes, bed sheets and MP3 players.

She’s shooting her first feature film in her hometown of Franklin, Tenn.

Miley said she understands the media scrutiny that is focused on her now that Hollywood bad girls Lindsey, Britney and Paris are doing their best to keep their noses clean. The paparazzi have become constant companions wherever she eats, shops or hangs out. Miley said she doesn’t get “shaken or stirred up over anything.”

Of Lohan and Spears, she said, “I know they have good hearts and they’re struggling.”