The Exploitation of Vanessa Hudgens | Deep Dive

i mean i'm a private person and for something like that to happen this is is so mean you know it's just a horrible thing [Music] endless pictures vanessa hutchins the star of that kid's movie high school musical we're always hearing about the big name bad girls vanessa hudgins has just learned the downside of fame a few secrets are ever kept in the dark [Music] [Applause] who sent these photos well they're they're alleging that it was drake bell how could i ever repay you i think you can guess [Music] you know there was some controversy uh about you and the photos that have cropped up [Music] [Music] hi i'm jake and i'm shelby welcome to deep dive where we dive into told and untold stories in extreme detail if it happened it's probably in a deep dive now today we are going to be talking about the star of the biggest disney channel original movie of all time vanessa hutchins and just how her fame privacy and innocence was dangled in front of her by a multi-billion dollar corporation we are also going to be diving deep into the rise of high school musical the disney channel's pattern of behavior and just how her disney channel co-stars were exposed in front of the entire world and made to apologize for their own traumatic experiences now this is the second installment of the disney channel machine and we both want to thank you all so much for the support you've given that video i can't believe we're so close to 200 000 subscribers every time we do a new video y'all seriously shock us with how enthusiastic and ready you are and so many of you are just so sweet like it really does mean everything sitting down to research these videos is one of the most rewarding parts of the deep dive process but when tackling a super complex story it's best to schedule your time out right and for me no one has helped me better than today's sponsor skillshare skillshare has long been a resource for me to refine my editing enhance new abilities in photoshop and help me improve in pretty much every area of my day-to-day life and my good friend carrie always says people may be able to copy you but they can never take your mind so having a skill and mastering it in my opinion is the most powerful currency like truthfully without youtube i don't know where i would be so i encourage you all to go pick some new abilities up over on skillshare and take a chance on yourself invest in yourself take time for yourself the first thousand people to click the link can even try a free month on skillshare thank you so much to skillshare for sponsoring this video now back to your regularly scheduled programming as the 90s were coming to an end disney channel began to usher in their most impactful era of all time the era of the disney channel original movie television was still being viewed as a secondary medium to that of a traditional film experience and disney had marketed their disney channel premiere films for 20 years up to this point starting with the first premier film by alan shapiro in the 80s these movies would introduce the world to the pool of stars we know today and disney would execute a new strategy to draw young children into their scheduled programming this would grow into the largest children's network in the industry form one of the biggest musical franchises in existence and create multiple generations of huge celebrities but we're getting ahead of ourselves vanessa hutchins was born to gina and greg hodgins in december of 1988 in salinas california her mother emigrated from the philippines and met greg a firefighter from missouri together they raised their family and moved all over california but as vanessa turned eight years old she found her love for the arts in san diego and began appearing in multiple musical theater productions first professional job i ever had was the community theater by me it was like a gorgeous outdoor amphitheater and it was the wizard of oz and i remember i got paid fifty dollars i played a munchkin you gotta start somewhere my advice to kids who wanna be a part of showbiz is really just go for it go for 110 and don't let anyone stop you i think i was an actual born dancer growing up i loved dancing when it's about two years old i just would be dancing around the house all day long to the point where my parents are just like staring at me like what is this child doing i started off doing tons of dance classes singing classes acting classes piano classes because it was something that i loved i wasn't going for it to become famous i just did it because i was truly passionate about it she began auditioning at a very young age and was able to land her first role at the age of only 14 on the tv show still standing this morphed into a full-blown acting career as the next year she would star alongside evan rachel wood in the movie 13 along with several other movies this prompted vanessa's family to pull her out of school and move to los angeles this would turn out to be a life-changing event as just two years into her new career she would begin the process of transforming into a bonafide disney channel star and it would begin with a bizarre and often forgotten part of disney channel's history vanessa would first be cast on kiki palmer's new disney channel show kiki and jamal the show was another advertisement for the disney channel machine as it centered around a young kiki palmer who had dreams of being an entertainer and even though her father is tight-knit he still lets the family move to los angeles to follow her dreams this is a trope that runs through most of disney channel's shows and serves as an advertisement to the children they need to cast showing an aspirational lifestyle then a child the age of the demographic they're marketing to saying how the disney channel made all their dreams come true thinking back on it i was so nervous waiting for the call from my agent hello hey debbie it's jennifer fry so guess what you have booked the role of bailey on sweet life on deck oh my word are you for real hi grandma it's debbie i want to be on disney channel my life just changed today a full-fledged system has emerged it's expertly constructed and it's bolted in place by censoring the harm happening behind the scenes i wasn't sleeping and like i was so miserable and like angry too because i felt like i was being overworked which i was and like yeah you sound so busy you have time to just relax and be a kid and have fun with girlfriends i am a kid right now and i am totally relaxed so i guess so manicuring aspirational lifestyles and outcomes teen sensation demi lovato is having a great year she performed at the kids inaugural ball and met the obama girls and then watching young lives tragically implode kiki and jamal unfortunately suffered the same fate as sweet life in miami and arwen as the show was never picked up after the initial pilot episode was filmed however disney channel had big plans for vanessa that would utilize her beautiful voice and make her an instantaneous disney channel icon in 2006 the disney channel released an experimental episode of even stevens in which the cast performed in a musical the episode reportedly did so well disney ordered two more projects the first being a musical episode of that so raven the second being an entire disney channel original movie that was a musical the executive producer of even stevens revealed that when he brought the idea of a musical episode to the disney channel they weren't interested in doing a musical at all and it wasn't something they even envisioned being successful aj troth from even stevens was quoted saying there hadn't been any musical episodes yet obviously hannah montana hadn't come out yet glee didn't exist high school musical obviously didn't exist hilary duff was barely on the channel so they hadn't started doing the crossover thing with music and their acting talents it was a novel concept for the time but this episode was a ginormous success and disney knew it christy carlson romano even said quote disney internally called me and told me that the episode the musical was officially named one of the pinnacles within the channel's history that was looked at as one of the biggest shifts in the channel's history and it must be because they then realized it was something they wanted to do across the board the ceo of disney channel gary marsh even stated that if it weren't for the musical episode of even stevens then high school musical would have never been developed the casting process for high school musical would be rigorous as disney channel's triple threat rule would take full effect the children auditioning would need to be the best singers and actors in the world and disney had an extremely talented pool of children they would pick from high school musical would catapult ashley tisdale lucas gravial corbin blue monique coleman zac efron and none other than vanessa hutchins into the homes of millions of families unlike the world had seen before the high school musical cast would become household names virtually overnight i really think high school musical has done an awful lot for me i mean disney is such a big machine and it has done so much for everybody and like lindsay lohan they helped hillary duff to help and it's a really great jump board to get everybody out there and i got my record deal from it and i'm here now basically from high school musical and none of us really thought that it would take off like it did and then we started doing tons of shows we did good morning america and we performed in the middle of times square and i'm looking around like i never thought i would be in new york nonetheless performing in the middle of times square it must be amazing to watch what high school musical has done yeah it really is because we honestly had no idea it was going to blow up like it did i heard a little rumor that you're hopelessly romantic with this guy since then i got a record deal and i've been recording my album and all that craziness and it's kind of hard to go out now without being trampled by exams but you know i love it it's just been kind of hectic since i've done high school musical tonight we will see one of the most highly anticipated entertainment events of the summer high school musical 2 premieres on the disney channel [Music] are you feeling hot and you can't get enough of my face [Music] as a major scandal was brewing behind the scenes that would shake up the release of high school musical 2 more than anyone could have expected vanessa and zach were at the height of their teen fame hairspray had just been released and teen idol zac efron was posing shirtless for rolling stone with no scrutiny from disney or the media high school musical 2 also having just been released was proving to be the largest disney channel original movie success of all time catapulting vanessa hudgens right into the limelight just as her biggest scandal would break in the days leading to the infamous photo leak vanessa landed the cover of teen magazine with an exclusive interview where she would be quoted saying i love being a role model because in hollywood there aren't a lot of role models to look up to the fact that there's a whole bunch of good kids coming out who are now stepping into the limelight i'm very proud of that do you feel the pressure though to be perfect because your your show and your your movies and your music and everything is is watched and loved by very young impressionable kids no not at all just because i mean i grew up with good morals i'm a good kid i'm not gonna go to the clubs and dance on tables and stumble outside for the paparazzi to see and i mean i just i'm not into that like i don't want to do it so um like setting a good example is something that i love because there's not very many people who girls should be looking up to so um being able to do that like it's an honor really see isn't it fantastic that you have a young lady like this that can be a role model when you certainly flip through the magazines and you see some chaos it's great to have someone like vanessa in the world no pressure as we know disney loves to put unrealistic expectations and pressures onto their young stars turning them into perfect role models for their child audience but when you curate a perfect image for a teenager by putting them high up on a pedestal it makes the inevitable fall that much more damaging and in september 2007 a then 18 year old vanessa hudgins would experience how just in a blink of an eye her good girl disney reputation would change to no fault of her own and just how quickly disney executives would throw her under the bus the national enquirer released a story hitting newsstands stating nude photos of the high school musical teen star would begin circulating the internet they reported at the time that the private photos were meant for vanessa's then-boyfriend and co-star zac efron now keep in mind this is summer 2007 where there was a major shift in technology happening the fall of the blackberry was upon us and the rise of the iphone had just begun the internet was now in the pockets of more people than ever before because of this shift when the photo of vanessa hit the internet it spread like wildfire vanessa's private photo was all any major media outlet could talk about for days photos of vanessa hudgens have supposedly been leaked and according to the national enquirer they're not yearbook portraits a source who claims to have seen the suggestive snapshots tells the inquirer that vanessa took the pics shooting into a mirror with her camera phone except for a gold chain around your waist if the shots of vanessa hudgens do indeed surface it could spell trouble for the disney company one insider told the inquirer that the new picks of one of the high school stars would be catastrophic adding it could bring the whole high school musical franchise to its knees so then lindsey and rehab paris in jail hollywood seems to love a good scandal uh we're always hearing about the big name bad girls now scandalous pictures of vanessa hudson's the star of that kid's movie high school musical which was overwhelmingly popular in the disney channel just came out we're told that will probably mean millions for her career okay now earlier you saw miley cyrus talking about being up for an emmy yes well now we've got the hannah montana star and her dad billy opening up about high school musical star vanessa hudgens picture scandal i didn't see anything about it did you know hello it's everywhere but the thing is is that you stop trying to lie it's like but the thing is is mistakes happen and i'm really just happy that i can be there for her as a friend because that's what she needs more than anything she's a human being you know people are gonna make mistakes and when you make one you just gotta readjust and regroup and and go back with life he's taught me just that you know mistakes happen whether you're in the spotlight or not there's been sort of a bit of controversy about at the moment i know you found out about it on the red carpet last night about some supposed photos of your apparent girlfriend vanessa really do you know about this is this true or is this just something that's been made up you know regardless if it's true if it's not you know personal question and i don't talk about any of my friends personally and since this was 2007 the same year the media tried to destroy britney spears you can imagine there was no empathy that vanessa's privacy was violated or that the whole world had access to intimate photos that weren't meant to be seen the media would relentlessly shame vanessa even though she was the victim of what is now a crime called revenge or non-consensual property the timing of all of this happening could not be any worse as vanessa was in the middle of negotiations with disney for a high school musical 3 which due to the success of high school musical 2 disney was expanding the budget to have high school musical 3 released in theaters parents who rely way too heavily on celebrities to be role models for their children were outraged and every blog post was speculating that disney would replace vanessa to maintain their squeaky clean image but disney knew better they knew getting rid of vanessa would completely ruin their cash cow that is the 4 billion dollar high school musical franchise so instead according to joe jonas's new york times confessional a group of disney executives went into damage control mode locking vanessa in their offices the entire day to keep her on lockdown while figuring out how to public relations their way out of it joe jones even said disney executives would talk openly about the photo scandal amongst other disney stars and would even thank the jonas brothers for not making quote mistakes like vanessa which in turn made them feel like they could never make mistakes of their own joe jonas continued saying that you can't be a perfect little puppet forever both vanessa's and disney statements on the situation were released the very next day at the same exact time vanessa being forced to apologize for someone invading her privacy said i want to apologize to my fans whose support and trust means the world to me i'm embarrassed over the situation and regret having ever taken these photos i am thankful for the support of my family and friends disney statement clearly blaming vanessa said vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment a disney representative also said the photo would not affect its decision to cast hudgins in the third film of the high school musical franchise and that negotiations for the cast and creative team were continuing high school musical star vanessa hudgins has just learned the downside of fame that few secrets are ever kept in the dark it's not that i want to be famous i mean i love doing my movies and everything and i guess it comes with a territory a hard lesson came yesterday when a nude photo of the 18 year old actress surfaced on the internet and the full frontal pick vanessa is standing in what appears to be a bedroom and while questions arose over whether or not it really was the starlet a rep confirmed it all to e news saying quote this was a photo which was taken privately it is a personal matter and it is unfortunate that this has become public contrary to rumored reports vanessa's rep tells us her client's not being replaced in the high school musical series she's currently in negotiations to star in the third installment from high school musical apparently had some what are they new photos online that she i don't know if she sent them to her boyfriend or what but yeah supposedly she sent them to her boyfriend and now they're all over the internet it's just we're kind of in this world where there's no secret you gotta really start thinking young okay well everything that i'm doing now is going to affect me for the rest of my life it's intimidating you know number one she apologized number two uh disney said because the show is so successful that it's not going to make any difference in her career and i know you talked about hanky-panky boys shorts and get in the car and we made fun of your co-worker but you know what she's brought a lot enough on herself the girlfriend and she needs to hire somebody to maintain the lawn at her house you know i mean in the world knows that now and and so i remember all of these things from our previous conversation go ahead and laugh because you're not laughing you know what you want i'm uncomfortable well be comfortable now what the public may not remember about this scandal is how much worse it got after the statements were released the media couldn't just drop it and it seemed like anyone who knew vanessa prior to fame were coming out of the woodwork for their own 15 minutes in the days after vanessa's statement apologizing not only was she hit with a lawsuit from her lawyer prior to landing her disney role but more quote scandalous photos would be released but this round of photos were not photos and many were silly face pictures any typical teenager would take spotted for the first time since her picture scandal and where we caught zach with another woman so get this vanessa hutchins was scheduled to be on jay leno's show tonight but the young star has cancelled i think she doesn't want to talk about certain pictures well samantha can tell us where vanessa is it's been just over a week since the scandal you know when nude photos of vanessa hutchins hit the internet the high school musical star has been laying low but we did manage to spot her at hollywood video in los angeles with her little sister and later photog snapped her leaving the gym but where's the bf zac efron he's been spotted with another woman zach and nikki blomsky yep the actors were in madrid spain yesterday promoting their movie hairspray and vanessa was a hot topic in our e-talk box this week so what will the fallout from her photo scandal bee listen you're a kid's heart not better than me no it'll help her career look at paris help me i think it's gonna hurt her dane cook goes up there and kind of just completely calls out vanessa hudgins in front of the whole place and pretty much just tells her to keep her clothes on can i just can i just can i before before i do the choice hotties can i just say what everybody in this room is thinking but nobody has said where's vanessa hudgens [Applause] girl you got to keep your clothes on phones are for phone calls girl she looked pissed oh that was just amazing i thought that was amazing finally someone is telling this girl what phones are for i liked it you liked it i'm okay with it i mean the only person should be devastated but that's her own fault too right and the story would just keep going for what seems like weeks to make vanessa seem even worse people dropped a story stating a source informed them that a couple years before vanessa was famous she sent nude photos to drake bell via email as vanessa had once guest starred on drake and josh now vanessa hudgens and the photos that were published there is an allegation that we know now the source of the the rat who who sent these photos public and he was it was well they're alleging that it was drake bell that uh put those photos out and drake bell run he had that nickelodeon show the other fellow what was it called josh and drake josh andre right and the drake of josh and drake uh that was a big show in 2006 i remember my kids watched it you say that he did what he publicized these photos no no i'm not saying that i'm saying that there are reports out there that are saying that he that he received the photos uh but they're also saying that the photos that vanessa sent drake this is kind of interesting are not the same photos as the ones that were just which one is drake drake is the now the photos are public so who did it and are there more photos coming you're gonna have to wait and see we don't know for certain drake bell's representative would respond to this story and state that drake never received such photos but that wouldn't stop everyone running with the story that vanessa sent photos to drake bell the national enquirer who were so proud of themselves for breaking the photo scandal story would then speak with vanessa's ex-boyfriend in a now-deleted article now this story was clearly aimed to shame vanessa further and to make it appear as if she is passing out photos like candy but what it really did was legally complicate the story vanessa had been 18 for a little over half a year when the initial photo was released the media was speculating that it was a photo meant for zac efron but in reality they didn't know where the photo came from how old it was nor who it was meant for vanessa's ex-boyfriend adam from when she was 15 told the national enquirer that the photo circulating the internet was a photo she sent him in january of 2004 making vanessa hudgens under age in that photo now the national enquirer is not a trusted source and they did swiftly delete this article never speaking of the photo ever again the question is did they delete the article because it was a lie or did they delete the article because it would prove that the nude photo everyone was shaming vanessa for was actually an underage illegal photo you know there was some controversy uh about you and the photos that have cropped up uh months ago how did you handle that did you would you have good support from your fans about that yeah you know my fans are amazing because they have stood by my side you know and i mean they really are my core group my family's always there for me and i don't know i just had to surround myself with good people and just try to think of good things you know how did you feel when that controversy came about i mean i think people thought i took it lighter than i really did you know for me it was really tough because i mean i'm a private person and for something like that to happen is is is so mean you know it's just a horrible thing and i mean it sucked but thankfully it's over now even after being exposed in front of her family friends and the entire world vanessa would keep pushing forward and go on to star in high school musical 3 which released in the summer of 2008 grossing 258 million high school musical quickly became the highest grossing disney channel original movie series of all time in 2009 vanessa would star in a movie called band slam alongside ali machaka and days before the release vanessa would yet again be a victim of revenge as more photos would leak onto the internet according to reports these photos were old and more than likely of an underage vanessa hudgens high school musical's vanessa hodgins has had photos of herself leaked on the internet again high school musical one two and three star vanessa hudgens has done it again today the actress singer and inventor of sneaker nat leaked more naughty photos of herself i love this one where she's blowing a kiss she's like look i just ate zac efron you want to taste now that topless photos of vanessa hudgens have hit the web the high school musical star is the subject of another photo scandal while we can't show you the risque photos of vanessa hudgens wearing nothing but tiny gold undies we can tell you she's said to have been 17 years old when she took the top with shots of herself the 22 year old just can't seem to escape some racy photos she took years ago that somehow keep ending up online now more images from that same set have reportedly ended up back on the internet and according to hudgen's lawyer police are now involved in searching for the person responsible now that vanessa was no longer under the thumb of disney she was not forced to apologize or make a statement and this time she filed a federal lawsuit against the site mo jackson.com for posting her photos illegally the 2009 leak would not be the last time vanessa would be a victim of this kind of online violation just when vanessa thought she was finally safe in 2014 there was a massive icloud hack of celebrities where many a-list celebrities were leaked online in an event deemed the fappening the celebrity leaker strikes again and this time kim k and vanessa hudgens joined the list of victims all right whoever's doing this is beyond creepy on saturday morning nude photos of kim kardashian vanessa hudgens and more of jennifer lawrence were uploaded to 4chan and reddit but thank god were taken down due to the opposition that both companies have toward hacked photos additional victims of this leak include avril lavigne hope solo lee lee sobieski and lake bell this time though the public perception of nudes being illegally obtained and spread online for the world to see without consent started to change in 2015 section 33 of the criminal justice and courts act came into force creating a new criminal offense for disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress it wouldn't be until 2020 13 years after the scandal where vanessa would actually open up about it she was quoted saying it was a really traumatizing thing for me it's really up that people feel like they are entitled enough to share something that personal with the world as an actor you completely lose all grip of your own privacy and it's really sad if you've been a disney fan since way back in the day you probably remember one of the biggest scandals in 2007 was vanessa hutchins nude photo leak and now she is finally opening up about how traumatizing the entire media storm was for her vanessa's life seemed completely flawless that is until her photos were leaked onto the internet obviously the photos caused a wave of negative media attention especially because vanessa's target audience was very young this whole frenzy resulted in vanessa being forced to apologize for the pictures even though the leak was not her fault so also said quote i think that is because there's a disconnect when you see your favorite actors on the screen and you see them now on your tv in your homes and you can watch them whenever you want there's almost i don't want to say lack of respect because that sounds negative but it just makes you feel like you know them even though you don't vanessa hutchins was one of the first celebrity victims of revenge but she wouldn't be the last this scandal would set off a domino effect of disney channel valuing their brand over the children they employ the threat of unemployment nearly always drove child stars to obey disney channel at all costs even if it meant being the sacrificial lamb in an area of public embarrassment unfortunately this isn't the only time the disney channel has asked a victim of revenge to apologize for their own exploitation disney channel has a long documented history of making young girls apologize for their own photo leaks or photos taken by the paparazzi obviously the transition is definitely tough you know but it is what it is like it's like anything in my life i mean if you read the book you'll be like transitioning from disney to this was easy i don't know getting from your six to fourteen seems like way harder circumstances or being physically abused all the time seems like a much more difficult situation than have paparazzi following you since you were 12. i don't know i was still being when paparazzi were still following me so it's pretty hard in my mind to think about these big flashlight photographs and everyone thinking they know me and talking about me but having no idea the type of mistreatment that i was still dealing with at that time that everyone around me saw and did nothing so i don't know you tell me what's so hard because that to me way harder than any other of this other that i do on a daily basis bella thorne would make her debut on the disney channel at just 13 years old on the hit show shake it up alongside euphoria alumni zendaya this show would center around two girls getting their big break on a hit local dance show in the city of chicago the show may be a pleasant nostalgic memory of the past for many however according to her appearance on the tom ward show bella's experience was tainted as she was almost fired at only 14 years old for wearing a bikini yeah i came from the channel and i was told to be a very different person than i am which is okay because on that road i've one of those stories though i thought was interesting was like when you're 14 i read somewhere that you're wearing a bikini like a skimpy bikini like somebody's disney's like whoa whoa whoa like that's not cool so somebody took a photo of me in a bathing suit yeah it's a sexy baby it's black it's got like a little bit of like fun little lace underneath my mom picked it out it was cute i don't know and then no big deal it was you're gay they said you're lucky that bella has such a fan base that we can't afford to fire her at this moment in time but if she does one more other thing we will that's scary though at 14 because your father passed away when you were nine so you were working at a young age and was that scary like hey this is a real job a real good paying gig i don't want to get fired like was there some of that too well the reason that we took the um shake it up really in the first place was because we were about to be living on the streets so it wasn't really a choice so yeah when it was like holed up there you know the cheetah girls were the largest group on the disney channel to date they grossed millions in tours albums and three different hit movies however their group would come to a bitter end all because of the disney channel and more specifically a scandal involving adrien baleon oh my gosh please try not to smack me in the face adrian and i have been together a little over a year now she is a cheetah girl i love her and i really wanted to make it work so adrienne and i are moving in together i have never lived with a boyfriend before so this is a huge step for me and we just wanted to go really well according to an article released by ace showbiz.com adrian baleon one of the members of the singing group the cheetah girls has issued a public apology dedicated to her fans soon after her racy pictures hit the internet the pics that show her wearing only bra and exposing her naked bottom to the camera reportedly are intended to be sent to her boyfriend rob kardashian the younger brother of celebrity socialite kim kardashian reportedly adrian's leaked nude pictures were stolen from her laptop when it went missing for a few hours at new york city's jfk airport the same day the laptop was stolen adrian's record label alleged they got an anonymous phone call from a man saying he would return the device for one thousand dollars her spokesperson jonathan jackson whom she shared with kim kardashian has issued a statement explaining the photos that have surfaced of adrian baleon were stolen from her laptop over a week ago at an airport in new york and sent to several media outlets jonathan reveals further these photos were taken in private adrian will be pursuing legal action against the person or person sending these private photos out while the laptop was returned the damage to adrian's disney reputation had already been done on top of the planned legal action adrian is quote deeply sorry for any pain this may have caused to her fans however jonathan jackson's book and press tour would later reveal a different side to the story after the initial leak jonathan revealed his reported plan with adrian to drum up publicity jackson admitted that after the laptop was stolen he and the 25 year old singer decided to quote juice up the story by saying that nude pictures could have possibly been stolen jonathan told fox adrian's tour with the cheetah girls will be over december 22nd so she is then free to pursue other projects and wanted to be seen as more adult and sexy so after the laptop was stolen we used it as an opportunity to drum up some publicity and start speculating about nude photos but we never expected anything to get out he told the news that the photos were actually taken from her phone not her laptop and said adrian and her boyfriend kim kardashian's younger brother robert swear they didn't leak them but it wouldn't surprise me if adrian did it's either her or someone very close to her things are pretty ugly which should have been an image boost has really turned around and bitten her in the butt adrian has been crying for two days straight she's on her cheetah girls tour right now so she has to explain to her fans and is totally distraught her career is in real jeopardy she was a very sweet girl that desperately wanted out of the kid-focused disney star making machine so we had concocted a plan where we would act like her laptop was stolen at the airport in new york and she was concerned because there were nude photos on there unbeknownst to jackson he claims adrian then took things a step further by actually releasing x-rated shots and when she tried to blame him for the photos getting released he showed disney the emails proving she was in it all along jonathan said after they saw the evidence she was released from her disney contract and her musical group cheetah girls was promptly removed from maisie's thanksgiving day parade because of the scandal adrian i have to ask you about these pictures because i'm getting text messages take it easy pull back honestly that's the only thing that makes me feel better about it oh and that reaction because it sure makes me want to kill myself but oh i was there at mtv today because you lost your laptop right didn't you yes i was on mtv and you came in all because it was at the airport or something definitely crying like late because i actually was getting ready to do my meeting for afternoons on mtv you lost your laptop yes and then you leave your laptop where no it actually got lost at jfk thank god somebody actually returned it to us but by then the pictures had been honestly not when you went through it honestly we don't i can't say that for sure we really don't know like i've spent a handful of money figuring the situation out to be quite honest with you but there are no laws for the internet to be honest with you there are no laws for the internet you can put anything and everything on there if anybody wants to help me with this cause help me out somebody because literally there's nothing you can do there's no there's no way to trace it people create gmail accounts and there's really nothing to do i've considered subpoena google and so when something like this happens to you and now you're friend friendly with friends with kim and kim's been through her own chair all the way around if you go to kim and say obviously i i did after the fact like way later my first reaction stops he called my mom because that's really the only opinion i really care about to quite honest right and my mom was there for me she's like mama i know you you're not a this is so not you like especially with the rumors that it was intentional anybody that knows me knows that those photos were not airbrushed and if i had a choice they would have been and that you can get paid for these sorts of things six figures you can get paid to you know so why would yourself naked why would i first of all not get paid i'm a cheater girl like why would i not get paid for this and you know it sucks but i was not happy at all especially to be on the road in the middle of this i didn't have to the same day get up and do a show where it stopped it really sucked no well as beccas would say no so then you uh and in the moment you think you're gonna die i was for sure everything like i'm over likes need to go home and work at rite aid and i'll be fine with that honestly at that time i felt like this i really don't want to be a part of this but anybody like seriously everybody that told me was going to be okay like kim she's like it goes away like if you get better like people will start remembering you for what i actually am i've worked all this time in my life to do cheetah girls and to be this role model you know 10 years of my life spending doing this i wouldn't have just thrown it away for something stupid like this at all right it was and it was no bueno no no no no i feel like they were they were bueno oh you're not getting upset don't get upset you don't have upset no that that me that's relief that was a sigh of relief yeah at least thank you lord it's not like hideous all right well now you're moving forward you have an album deal at def jam yes you have a reality show guys it's in the works i have the camera in here now whether jonathan or adrian's sides of the story are correct disney channel still made adrian apologize for the photos being uploaded thus further cementing their pattern of behavior but unfortunately this wasn't enough as the final example we'll be discussing today will be centered around one of the biggest stars on the planet miley cyrus they told me where to go when i do what i'm supposed to do and head home and be a kid i think i've been in entertainment boot camp since i was young because i've never been like a normal person because i had to grow up like so quick the miley cyrus topless vanity fair photo scandal entertainment tonight was first to show you the shots and we broke the story about her embarrassment well now new details emerge according to billboard in 2008 at the age of only 15 cyrus worked with renowned photographer annie lebowitz for a feature in vanity fair one of her portraits shows the young star then famous for her role on the disney channel's hannah montana wrapped in what looks to be just a satin sheet with the skin of her back exposed news publications ran with the story intentionally shaming miley cyrus across every grocery store checkout aisle it's the photograph that has launched a firestorm the 15 year old's provocative pose hair wet with only a discreetly placed sheet covering her top the controversial photo is the cover story of today's new york post the disney channel which broadcasts hannah montana is not happy about the photos telling us quote unfortunately as the article suggests a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15 year old in order to sell magazines inside the issue of vanity fair on stands this week the superstar is lovingly cradled by her father billy ray he was on hand for most of the shoot with famed photographer annie leibovitz in this video from the set you can see billy ray leaving with her mom and their younger daughter a source on the set tells us only miley's grandmother and teacher were there for what ended up being the last shot of the day she allowed annie to sort of you know do this this one picture which at the time it didn't really seem provocative at all in the article miley said of the photo quote i think it's really artsy and you can't say no to annie miley had no problem with it whatsoever the new york times staying 15 years old and suggestively wrapped in what appears to be a satin bed sheet in the june issue of vanity fair did miley cyrus with the help of a controversy courting magazine just deliver a blow to the walt disney company's billion dollar hannah montana franchise the article continues saying some parents reacted with outrage over the weekend when the television program entertainment tonight began showing commercials promoting a scoop miss cyrus the star of the wholesome disney channel blockbuster hannah montana had posed topless albeit with her chest covered screen grabs of the photo quickly popped up online sparking a blog sphere debate bonfire anyone wrote lynn burris on her marriage and parenting blog quote telling it like it is referring to the mountain of hannah montana retail items make up shoes clothes in the marketplace parents should be extremely concerned miss barrett said in an interview very young girls look up to miley cyrus as a role model it is doubtful that one photograph especially one that is tame in the context of an internet awash in nude photographs of other starwoods could dense the hannah montana machine said several wall street analysts retail sales for the franchise are expected to total about 1 billion dollars in 2008 a motion picture is in the works for 2009 and ms cyrus signed a seven-figure book deal with the disney book group last week but keeping a teenage entertainment franchise on track in an age when stars are monitored around the clock by bloggers and paparazzi is quote extremely difficult even for a company with the experience of disney executives are constantly battling to keep minor slip ups from growing into full-blown controversies in a caption for the photo published in that vanity fair interview miley wasn't phased by the post potentially being seen as controversial she was quoted as saying no i mean i had a big blanket on and i thought this looks pretty and really natural i think it's really artsy the article written by bruce handy quoted miley saying annie took like a beautiful shot and i thought it was really cool she also said of the photo i think it's really artsy it wasn't in his way however disney channel rushed to protect their image they had crafted for her and throw her completely under the bus with vanity fair about to hit newsstands miley wants the millions who idolize and adore her to know she is sorry saying quote i never intended for any of this to happen and i apologize to my fans who i care so deeply about miley released a statement 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 beth kazniak a spokesperson for both vanity fair magazine and miss lebowitz said miley's parents and reminders 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 the article continues at the very least ms cyrus and her advisors do not seem to be on the same page as disney the company learned of the photos only when entertainment tonight started showing its promos last week gary marsh the president of entertainment for disney channel worldwide was quoted in portfolio magazine saying for miley cyrus to be a good girl is now a business decision for her parents parents have invested in her godliness if she violates that trust she won't get it back fans and parents react after miley cyrus poses for a provocative photo shoot does that change your image of hannah montana yeah well i'm kind of shocked i'm embarrassed for them actually i would have thought she wanted to be a better role model i believe if that picture had been taken in her mid-20s it would have been okay i don't think anybody would have flinched at it but at 15 years old no it makes her look like a you know s scum it looks makes her look like a little gina anselmo watches hannah montana every day with 15 year old jordan that's why it's no surprise the controversial pictures by legendary photographer annie leibovitz shocked the jupiter mother and her daughter they made her look like little they made her look like she was something that she's not and to be honest with you i think if the media wasn't that intense i don't think she'd be freaking out about doing these pictures so it's like a catch-22 i don't think it's a big deal the girl's got her head screwed on straight she's just superstar most 15 year olds don't have their own show aren't like rock stars i think she's like smart i think she's conscious you have to be smart about it and realize the position that you're in and that everybody's gonna want to try and find the bad you know but um yeah i think it's definitely a tough situation to be in and i've been in it before and it is what it is and it's life and you go on you know uh call me cynical but does she really feel so embarrassed or is everybody glad about all of the attention and all the publicity that this is getting well in this photo shoot as you mentioned she appears to be wrapped in just a sheet so is the image too sexy for the disney channel star disney seems to think so saying the teen was manipulated in a statement to the new york post i think this is a good lesson for her to learn so she doesn't go down the path that britney spears went down or some of the other girls that were in her shoes as well yeah eric i was saying to you i think that parents should not ask any of these people to be a role model i mean she's a 15 year old girl clearly her parents have chosen a totally different path for her i think she's got a lot of talent she's very professional i also think that you know she's accelerated at that year when you're put in that life you're not 15 you might be more like 18 and you're in your maturity level i mean i think it's very complicated actually i think you're right that we shouldn't look to these folks to be role models on the other hand she's an outspoken christian okay and as a christian i have to say if somebody like that doesn't have better spiritual advisors or her parents aren't guiding her she should keep her mouth shut about her faith and i think that this is possibly a great lesson for her to learn because what will happen is she does have a lot of christian fans they will turn their back on her let's hope they turn their back on her if she thinks this is a kind of a cool career christians make mistakes christians make mistakes and we can forgive her as christians let's see what bill yeah well i just got to say you know look first of all i saw women wearing less than this at the white house correspondent no doubt i said it's like an evening gown when she's got on but you know they were older and uh supposedly wiser look she's 15 and what i want to know is what was her father think exactly what we're having thinking this is just outrageous to take advantage of her like this and she says she's embarrassed look she's 15 she should have known better she should have thought of that about that before she took her clothes off she apologized for the picture and on top of that people are trying to defend her saying that she was manipulated into posing like that and taking that picture but both her parents were there she wasn't manipulated she thought it was artistic she wanted to do it she did it but everyone's giving her crap for it and now she feels like she has to apologize to save her career it's ridiculous the photo that was taken of her is seemingly looking topless um with the sheet wrapped around her what was your reaction when you saw that picture did you know it was going to be in the magazine oh lord no i wasn't i wasn't there when that picture was taken i had just finished a movie down in florida i flew in because annie had specifically asked that i would come in and do a shot with milo so i flew into l.a did my picture with miley and then i headed on up to washington state to play for the troops so i wasn't there at the time so i was surprised when i saw it you know but again you know stuff happens you know that that's life yeah but you came under some heat too because when you mentioned about you and your daughter a lot of people took issue with that because it didn't look like a father and a daughter it looked like a boyfriend and a girlfriend and now when you look but it's true i mean a lot of bloggers i don't know we're very upset by that say a lot of different things but not a mistake to me you know if it isn't someone else i'm sorry if i offended somebody photographer annie liebelman said in a statement today quote i'm sorry that my portrait of miley has been misinterpreted the photograph is a simple classic portrait shot with very little makeup and i think it is very beautiful every other tabloid magazine or show out there needed to run a story on that because that's what they wanted to sell in their magazine so they made it up miley i'm very curious about this is something that you tweeted yesterday and so this is a this is a screen grab from twitter you wrote i'm not sorry f you 10-year hashtag 10 years ago so you took a picture of this new york post did you have this in your house you came across no i found this because i i never really keep track of the years that i've gone by since something like this and so i guess it was apparently 10 years ago and i think a lot of things have changed and i think the conversation has changed a lot and i think um you know something that i that i really thought about was you know sure some people thought that i did something wrong in their eyes but i think it was really wrong of someone to put on top of someone that this is my shame and that i should be ashamed of myself that's the new york point that's not a nice thing to tell someone that they should be ashamed of themselves no yeah but that's donald trump but did you at that time did you apologize for doing that i don't remember um i think i did but i'm sure someone told me too but you know what that's why i don't do what people tell me to anymore because that idea sucked so they want to know why i come on you know tv shows with no shirt on blame them do you remember who told you to apologize do you have any recollection of that i think at that time i just wanted this to go away and i think i also was trying to balance and understand what being a role model is and to me i think being a role model has been my free spiritedness and sometimes my unapologetic attitude for decisions that i feel comfortable with and in a day it's like anything else for me when this photo was taken and i know this will probably get turned around too but when this photo was taken my little sister was here on set she actually was sitting with annie leibovitz taking photos too and there was nothing sexualized about this on set and it was everyone else's poisonous thoughts and minds that ended up turning this into something that it wasn't meant to be so actually i shouldn't be ashamed they should be [Music] the disney channel from the early 2000s represents a time where pop culture completely shifted and as the various actors and actresses grew up their careers would evolve into something even the disney channel couldn't control the countless apologies disney channel has pressured their actors to make is at times worrisome from 1999's maxim scandal with melissa joan hart to the exploitation of vanessa hudgens the disney channel has proven time and time again that they will more often than not value the damage of a pr scandal over one of their own child actors whether it's a breakout movie star like vanessa hudgins or a pop superstar like miley cyrus disney channel sites were on a squeaky clean image for their brand no matter the cost [Music] vanessa are you ready for this i am very ready okay absolutely nothing about them and then 10 seconds later you're playing like your best friends because you have to be anything by yourself you're so sweet and beautiful and perfect that was it and you booked the job [Music] you

Channel: Deep Dive

Views: 1,756,586

Keywords: Vanessa Hudgens, Highschool musical, Vanessa Hudgens Kelly Clark son, Disney channel, the dark side of Disney channel, Hilary Duff, deep dive, Vanessa Hudgens leak, Disney pop star factory, Disney documentary, vanessa Hudgens rare interview, Rare Miley Cyrus interview, Miley Cyrus Disney, Hannah Montana, Highschool musical 2, Disney exposed

Id: RjGhp0r1y6o

Length: 54min 42sec (3282 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 18 2022