Miley Cyrus has retracted her 10-year-old apology for a controversial photo-shoot she took part in when she was a teenager, in which it appeared that she had posed topless.
Back in 2008, when Miley was still just 15, the then -‘Hannah Montana’ actress posed in a controversial shoot for Vanity Fair magazine, with celebrated photographer Annie Leibovitz.
In one of the pictures, she posed with her bare back exposed, and her front covered by a bedsheet, creating the image she was topless, which came under heavy criticism at the time.
At the height of the backlash, a still-15-year-old Miley apologised to her young fans, saying: “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.
“I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologise to my fans who I care so deeply about.”
On the 10-year anniversary of the controversy, Miley posted the front cover of the New York Post’s coverage of the story, with the headline: “Miley’s Shame… TV’s ‘Hannah’ Apologizes For Near-Nude Pic [sic]”
Miley noted: “IM NOT SORRY. Fuck YOU #10yearsago”
In April 2008, in response to the controversy, a Disney Channel representative said that the teenager had been “deliberately manipulated… in order to sell magazines”, while Vanity Fair stood by the photo, insisting: “Miley’s parents and/or minders were on the set all day.
“Since the photo was taken digitally, they saw it on the shoot and everyone thought it was a beautiful and natural portrait of Miley.”
In the 10 years that followed, of course, Miley has been at the centre of plenty of controversy, most notably during her divisive ‘Bangerz’ and ‘Dead Petz’ album campaigns.