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Showbiz Tonight
The Miley Cyrus Mess; Jilted Wife at It Again; Is Miley`s Career Over?; The "It" Girl Smack Down; The Outrage Over "Gossip Girl"
Aired April 28, 2008 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: "Gilligan`s Island" star Dawn Wells finally sets the record straight about her shocking marijuana bust. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST: And the startling four-letter word controversy surrounding one of the hottest television shows out there. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood.
HAMMER: TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, the "Hannah Montana" mess. Tonight, did squeaky clean Miley Cyrus really pose half nude for "Vanity Fair?" Tonight, the outrage and the questions, is this really such a big deal? Or is this political correctness gone wild? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the controversy over the Cyrus stunner.
The out-of-control YouTube divorce lady strikes again. Tonight, the woman who trashed her husband online does it again.
TRICIA WALSH-SMITH, ANGRY WIFE: Shame on you! How dare you!
HAMMER: Tonight, the explosive new video. But will this really get her any sympathy or should she just shut up already?
Plus, the Hollywood "it" girl smackdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAPHNE BROGDON, TV HOST AND STANDUP COMIC: To be an "it" girl, you have to be somebody that women want to be like and men want to be with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Miley versus Britney. Rihanna takes on Janet. It`s a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, no-holds-barred, bare-knuckle "it" girl championship fight.
(MUSIC)
Hello, I`m A.J. Hammer broadcasting tonight and every night from New York City.
ANDERSON: Hi, there, everyone. I`m Brooke Anderson coming to you from Hollywood. And tonight, the racy half-naked picture that has Miley Cyrus in crisis.
HAMMER: Yes, Brooke. The biggest, the most famous, richest, squeaky clean teenage star in America now caught in this mind-boggling scandal tonight that`s just sparking outrage from coast to coast. Who could ever have imagined that we`d even be saying half-naked and Miley Cyrus in the same sentence?
Well, not only did the 15-year-old Hannah Montana star apologize today for this photo shoot that her own father Billy Ray Cyrus was a part of, but we`re talking about a photo shoot that was for one of the country`s most respected magazines.
Well tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is bringing you all of the latest breaking details of Cyrus in crisis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(voice over): She`s Miley Cyrus. And to millions of tweens around the globe, she`s Disney TV`s superstar, "Hannah Montana."
MILEY CYRUS, STAR OF "HANNAH MONTANA": Sorry I`m sold-out.
HAMMER: The star of her own major motion picture that earned a whopping $65 million at the box office. She`s got a memoir about her life so far in the works. And at just 15 years old, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you, Miley Cyrus can now add controversy to her list of accomplishments.
JO PIAZZA, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": Wow, this is way more of Miley Cyrus than we`ve ever seen before.
HAMMER: You can say that again. It is this, Annie Leibovitz` photo first splashed on "Vanity Fair" magazine`s Web site showing a partially clothed Miley that is at the center of all the controversy.
PIAZZA: This picture is definitely worth at least 1,000 words.
HAMMER: And evidently, it`s already worth an apology from the scandalized star herself who says she`s embarrassed, saying, quote, "For `Vanity Fair,` I was so honored and thrilled to work with Annie. I took part in the photo shoot that was supposed to be artistic. And now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed."
Wait, we haven`t even mentioned the other photos yet, the ones circulating on the Internet of Miley and her boyfriend.
PIAZZA: The one showing her leaning provocatively over her boyfriend, and leaning over and exposing her green bra.
HAMMER: Miley is now speaking out about the flap over those photos as well, saying, quote, "The pictures of me on the Internet were silly, inappropriate shots."
PIAZZA: Miley says they were just silly but they`re a little more than silly. They`re kind of provocative, especially for a 15-year-old girl.
HAMMER: This 15-year-old girl happens to be the star of a billion-dollar Disney franchise aimed at kids. Thousands clamored to get their kids tickets to her concerts. And now, she`s caught in her own conundrum because everybody and her mother is weighing in on whether she was right or wrong to do it. Here, the ladies of "The View."
ELIZABETH HASSELBECK, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": At this point, if you`re having your daughter pose for something like this and she`s 15 and you`re there, I think it can`t come down to a company or it can`t come down to a magazine. If you`re 15, it comes down to your parents.
JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Her fan base is moving into the next phase of late teens and she`s trying to keep her career.
HAMMER: Even ad execs like Donny Deutsch who weighed in on "Today."
DONNY DEUTSCH, ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE: If Miley doesn`t start to slightly evolve her image at 18, it`s over.
HAMMER: But SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has to ask, is it so bad for Miley Cyrus, star of a hit TV show, a billion-dollar franchise, to just be 15 years old with a fan base of tweens who adore her?
PIAZZA: It seems like just as Miley is hitting the peak of her tween star career. She`s got this seven-figure book deal. Parents are going out and buying their kids the whole "Hannah Montana" sets - the towels, the dolls, everything. And now she`s evolving into this new, edgy, weird, adult star thing. And it just seems like she`s kind of jumping that shark here.
HAMMER: And let us remind you about that famous scene in the hit TV show, "Happy Days" when Fonzi actually jumps a shark. Yes, it`s not a good thing for a TV show or a career for that matter.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
So here`s the question, is this much ado about nothing, or should we be outraged? Joining me tonight from Hollywood, investigative journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell, the author of this amazing book, "Secrets Can Be Murder." Also tonight, the founder of Fifteen Minutes Public Relations, Howard Bragman, joining us from Hollywood. Howard, Jane, always a pleasure.
The photo that was first seen on the "Vanity Fair" Web site, certainly - no one will argue it is suggestive. But Miley is not nude here. Howard, have at it? Are you outraged or are people just overreacting here?
HOWARD BRAGMAN, FOUNDER, FIFTEEN MINUTES PUBLIC RELATIONS: A.J. this is a skinned knee, not a broken leg. In this day and age of 16-year-old pregnancies and nude photo shoots and sex tapes, this is a made up controversy that everybody wants to sink their teeth into. And it`s not going to hurt her career. She`s still going to make tens of millions of dollars and have a lovely career.
She`s doing what any 15-year-old girl wanted to do. She`s trying to grow up a little when she perhaps did it a little too fast, a little out of character. But she`ll be fine, A.J.
HAMMER: So, the sexualizing of a 15-year-old not too strong here? I mean I have a feeling that Jane Velez-Mitchell probably has something to say about that.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: I love Howard. I couldn`t disagree more. This is outrageous. She is a minor. She is a child. She is 15 years old, people. And she`s no ordinary 15-year-old. She is a role model for millions and millions and millions of young girls around the country and the world ages 4 to 15, impressionable minds who have given her many millions of dollars. And with all that money comes responsibility to send a good message.
And this message, sadly, in a time when we have a woman running for president of the United States, says at the end of the day no matter what you`ve accomplished, what really matters is the suppleness of your skin and the real to key to success is being a sex object. And I was really hoping with Miley Cyrus we could move on with the next generation and have some other criteria for female success.
HAMMER: Yes, but not before a little damage control, Jane. It`s already in full force today, a lengthy apology that we just read to you from Miley Cyrus. I want to read another part of that, quote, "I never intended for any of this to happen and I am truly sorry if I have disappointed anyone. Most of all, I have let myself down. I will learn from my mistakes and trust my support team. My family and my faith will guide me through my life`s journey."
Wow. What a well-crafted apology. Howard Bragman, PR is your life. Is Miley, I assume through her people, handling this all wrong?
BRAGMAN: Well, I`ll tell you what`s wrong here. Miley is not the responsible party. She`s a 15-year-old girl. Her handlers blew it, be it her parents, her publicist - I don`t know who was there - who saw the shoot. But they had the responsibility because like any 15-year-old girl, she wants to grow up. She wants to be a woman. And they have - they should have had the gumption to say, "This isn`t the right image. This isn`t the right shot. This isn`t the right moment and this isn`t appropriate." And I think they should be apologizing on her behalf.
Most of the time, you want the client to apologize. But as a 15-year-old, she`s not responsible. She pays these people a lot of money and they`re the ones truly responsible.
HAMMER: Yes, you make a great point. And I want to add to more of her statement. She also said, quote, "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. The pictures of me on the Internet were silly, inappropriate shots."
So to your point, Howard, here`s what I don`t get. We`re talking about a young girl who is an estimated billion-dollar franchise based on being squeaky clean.
Jane, let me toss this one to you. Because I find it mind-boggling that neither her dad nor her Disney empire wouldn`t at least insist on final say over every shot before anything got out there.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, this whole thing is nonsense. You can predict that these photos are going to be provocative. They`re taken by Annie Leibovitz, she is famous for sexually provocative photos. That is her stock in trade. Two seconds on the Internet, and you can see all the famous shots she`s done. Demi Moore, naked and pregnant. Demi Moore, wearing only paint. John Lennon naked with Yoko Ono.
The idea that she is going to do a photo shoot with Miley Cyrus and it`s going to be milk toast and it`s going to be Disney-fied when it`s on "Vanity Fair," which is a provocative magazine, which features on its cover over and over again, starlets in come-hither poses, is nonsense. These people are far more sophisticated than that. This all basically a trumped- up apology. They shouldn`t have the kid apologize. The parents should apologize.
HAMMER: Howard, real quickly. And Charles, can you throw up these photos real fast, the ones that got out on the Internet last week, the racy photos. If not for those, would any of this be going on right now?
BRAGMAN: That lit the fuse and it made this a much bigger story. But it`s also going to go away. I think she made - despite the fact she shouldn`t have made it, it was a good apology and you watch Disney. Nothing is going to happen without Disney`s fingers in it going forward.
HAMMER: No question.
BRAGMAN: Nothing. So there`s a lot of control coming down.
HAMMER: Howard Bragman, Jane Velez-Mitchell, I thank you both.
And now, I want to hear from you. It`s our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day - "Miley Cyrus Racy Photo Scandal: Was it a mistake to pose for `Vanity Fair?` Let us know what you think, CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. Our E-mail address is showbiztonight@cnn.com.
Brooke, what do you think? How bad is this going to be? Has Miley totally destroyed her career or is this just going to blow over? What do you think?
ANDERSON: I think she`s so hugely talented that this will eventually blow over. But I understand the concern out there, especially from parents whose kids look up to her.
HAMMER: I`m right there with you. And I`ve got so much more on this Miley Cyrus stunner. Coming up, how do parents explain this to their kids? I mean Miley has certainly been the anti-Britney, the anti-Lindsay.
Remember this out-of-control woman?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Shame on you. How dare you!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Yes, that`s the wife of one of the most powerful men in showbiz going ballistic again. She`s posted another completely outrageous video on YouTube. I don`t know what this woman is thinking, but I think any sympathy for her has gone out the window. Should she just shut up?
HAMMER: And the Hollywood "it" girl smackdown. Can the newest kids on the block - I`m talking about Miley Cyrus, Rihanna. Can they knock the queens of Hollywood, the Britneys, the Janet Jacksons, out of their top slots? You`ve got to stick around. It`s a no-holds-barred fight and it is coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Shame on you! How dare you! If this is the 16th century, what would you have done? Put me in the stocks and thrown rotten tomatoes at me? I am speaking my truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: She`s back. The famously jilted wife ranting about her divorce is back on the YouTube warpath.
Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood.
Tonight, just when you thought it was safe to go back to YouTube, the ranting and raving soon-to-be divorcee has been posted, Act II. Millions watched when playwright Tricia Walsh-Smith first filmed the shocking secrets of her failed marriage on YouTube, claiming her husband was trying to evict her from her home. Now she`s taking down everyone in her path.
With me tonight in Hollywood, Darren Kavinoky, attorney for the Kavinoky Law Firm. Also tonight from the Tru TV studio in New York, Ashleigh Banfield, host of Tru TV`s "Hollywood Heat." Welcome Darren. Welcome Ashleigh.
All right. Tricia Walsh-Smith headed to divorce court today but not before uploading another rant on YouTube. She says she didn`t go into detail before, so here`s what she offered up this time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: On March the 10th, he served me with a piece of paper that said he was divorcing me for cruel and inhuman behavior. The only cruel behavior that I`ve ever done to that man is making hot skim milk in his cappuccino. And I did sneak wheatgrass once into his freshly made vegetable juice. I loved and adored him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: OK. Nothing says loving like skim milk and wheatgrass. We all know that. But Darren, should she just zip it already?
DARREN KAVINOKY, ATTORNEY, KAVINOKY LAW FIRM: Yes, it`s either skim milk and wheatgrass or perhaps in her case, it`s a gag in your mouth and a restraining order. Yes, zipping it would be a good idea. But at this point, Brooke, I think it`s a day late and a dollar short.
She`s already been convicted of lunacy in the court of public opinion and she has all the charm and appeal of a Lincoln Tunnel window-washer. So I think we`re past the point of where zipping it is a good idea. And at this point, everybody is identifying with her husband and saying, "Yes, dude, we feel for you. You should have done this a long time ago."
ANDERSON: We feel your pain. Ashleigh, what do you think? Can anything good come from her ranting and raving?
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST, "HOLLYWOOD HEAT": Yes, Darren Kavinoky`s comments.
(CROSS TALK)
I think he`s doing stand-up on the side when he`s not in court, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: Well, he`s got my bet for sure. You know, it`s funny because I thought you were saying she has as much charm as Heather Mills but I think your analogy is even better. And you know what? It`s honestly really bad when you`re out on YouTube because you can`t take that stuff back. Once it`s out there in the ether world, it`s going to come back to haunt you in video and also in court because you can bet your bottom dollar this is going to be evidence in this case.
ANDERSON: You know, she`s married to one of the most powerful people in show business, Broadway mogul Philip Smith. And in her latest ranting and raving video, she attacks press employees of her husband`s numerous theaters saying that they have slandered her name. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: They`ve all been (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the thing, saying the most disgusting, disgusting comments, trying to slag me off and slander my name. Shame on you! How dare you! If this was the 16th century, what would you have done, put me in the stocks and thrown rotten tomatoes at me? I am speaking my truth. But I did my cards today. And guess what I pulled? Courage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: She pulled courage. OK, Darren, in court, would all of this seem courageous or just plain stupid?
KAVINOKY: Well, the tarot card routine and that the tarot card defense doesn`t generally go over well unless your judge`s name is Merlin and even then, you may have some troubles.
And I don`t know about putting her in the stocks and throwing tomatoes at her. I think they probably would have shoved one into her mouth. She`s not going to serve her own needs in her court case, in all seriousness, by putting this stuff out there. If anything, she`s just shown that she`s got crazy eyes, that she`s irrational and really, it does foster a level of understanding and adds credibility to whatever her husband`s going to be alleging in court.
ANDERSON: Well, you know, if you look at all the criticism about this woman, people are saying that she`s a gold-digger, that she should get a job rather than complain. And you guys, on YouTube, she says she didn`t marry him for money, that she`s worked her entire life. She also talks about how her father died when she was very young. Ashleigh, do you think a judge is going to have any sympathy here?
BANFIELD: Probably not with this kind of evidence. I think without the YouTube evidence, yes, I think he would have had some sympathy. Because I think, you know, the issue that she has is that he`s serving her with divorce rather than the opposite.
But I think the problem is that - Darren`s right, it comes down to judgment. Do you have good judgment? What has your judgment been throughout? And I think this video has shown that she has terrible judgment and he can extrapolate that some of that might have made its way into the marriage.
ANDERSON: Yes, it does seem like poor judgment to me, too. Ashleigh Banfield, Darren Kavinoky, thank you both.
KAVINOKY: Thanks, Brooke.
HAMMER: Well, Brooke, I`ve got to tell you. I think this second video is definitely going to hurt this YouTube lady. But what do you think about Miley Cyrus? Is she really going to be getting hurt, you know, losing her fans for this controversial "Vanity Fair" photo shoot?
ANDERSON: Potentially, she could lose some. I feel badly for her, though, A.J. If she really was pressured or asked to do something that she may not have been completely comfortable with.
HAMMER: Yes, I`m thinking a lot about that. And, Brooke, I`m going to be asking our panel. How bad is this really for Miley Cyrus? Has she ruined her career or is this just political correctness gone amuck? And would there have been such outrage if Miley were a guy? We`ve got that coming up.
And also this -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTIN DOS SANTOS, "E! ONLINE" COLUMNIST: I think everyone is saying that Miley is the new Britney. She started out so young. She`s so big. Everyone knows her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Yes. After these pictures and the attention she`s getting, Miley may be the new Britney. It`s the Hollywood "it" girl smackdown. Can the Mileys, the Rihannas knock the Britneys and the Janets, the Angelinas out of their top slots? Next.
HAMMER: And coming up next, I want you to sit right back in your old hero tale, a tale of what really happened the night Dawn Wells - that`s Mary Ann from "Gilligan`s Island" was arrested with Mary Jane - that`s marijuana. Well, she is setting the record straight once and for all, and we don`t think the professor is anywhere in sight. That`s coming up next on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. Well, Mary Ann is finally setting the record straight once and for all about that Mary Jane - marijuana - found in her car.
"Gilligan Island`s" star Dawn Wells went on "The View" on Monday to explain exactly what happened when she was pulled over, driving home from a birthday party in Idaho back in October.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAWN WELLS, STAR IN "GILLIGAN`S ISLAND": The person whose marijuana it was stepped up to the plate, took the jail sentence, took the fine. But it didn`t happen until February because of the all the courts and all the rest. All I got was a reckless driving and a fine.
It had hit the papers - you`d think I molested children or been drunk. I don`t know - it`s been the most horrendous thing. I`ve been in this business, how long, 45 years? You haven`t heard me with cocaine and I would man all over and any of that stuff. I`ve been a real dull person. So now -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Well, there you have it. Not for pot. Dawn did get hit with this reckless driving charge not due to her alcohol or anything, but because she swerved her car, she says, while reaching for the heater control. For that, she got a fine and probation.
And Brooke, I was thinking that Miley Cyrus probably would be pretty good if a fine and probation was all that came out of this whole controversy with the shocking nearly nude "Vanity Fair" pictures that are really creating outrage from coast to coast.
ANDERSON: Yes. It has really sparked a fierce debate, A.J. Some say that it`s terrible. Others say, it could have been worse.
HAMMER: But what`s it going to do to her? That`s what I`m wondering. So coming up next, just how bad is all of this? Has Miley totally destroyed her career or is this whole thing just going to blow over? And how exactly do parents explain this to their kids? I mean Miley has been the anti- Britney, the anti-Lindsay, really. And speaking of Britney, is her reign as one of the Hollywood "it" girls over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROGDON: To be an "it" girl, you have to be somebody that women want to be like and men want to be with. When that starts to diminish, that`s when you need to go and find another profession.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: It`s the Hollywood "it" girl smackdown. Can the Mileys, the Rihannas knock the Britneys, the Janets, the Angelinas out of their top slots?
ANDERSON: And spotted, a super sexy scandal over a super hot TV show in its new ad campaign, next.
(NEWS BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, where have all the good girls gone? Miley Cyrus apologizes for racy photos. "High School Musical" star Vanessa Hudgens weathers a nude photo scandal. And oh yes, Jamie Lynn Spears, pregnant at 16. What`s a parent to do when the teen idols fall? Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT asks, where have all the good girls gone?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROGDON: To be an "it" girl, you have to be somebody that women want to be like and men want to be with. And when that starts to diminish, that`s when you need to go and find another profession.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Look out, A-listers. Hollywood`s young "it" girls are hot on your heels. Angelina versus Megan, Britney versus Miley, Courtney versus Amy. Tonight, a showbiz special report, the "it" girl smackdown.
(MUSIC)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It is 30 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer, broadcasting tonight and every night from New York City.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson coming to you tonight from Hollywood. This is TV`s most provocative entertainment news show.
HAMMER: Well, tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s continuing coverage of Miley Cyrus in crisis. There is controversy, there is outrage over Miley`s seminude photo in the upcoming new issue of "Vanity Fair" magazine which was posted on "Vanity Fair`s" Web site.
But did the 15-year-old "Hannah Montana" star really do such a bad thing? Or are we all just being way too politically correct? Miley is seen posing in nothing more than a satin sheet as part of this photo shoot for the June issue of "Vanity Fair" which was shot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Well, today, Miley issued a very strong apology saying she`s embarrassed by the pictures, and "Vanity Fair" has removed them from their Web site. And for the very first time, Miley confesses that those pictures floating around on the Internet last week. Yes, they were her, baring her belly and a green bra.
Back with us again tonight, from Hollywood, investigative journalist and author, Jane Velez-Mitchell. Also in Hollywood tonight, from MomLogic.com, Shannon Fox. And here in New York, host of Tru TV`s "Hollywood Heat," the lovely Ashleigh Banfield.
All right, gang. Let`s see what all the trouble is about one more time. Put up that picture if you would, Charles. This is the shot of Miley in "Vanity Fair" on its Web site.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has learned Miley was not nude when the photo was actually taken. She did have pants on. That`s not what we`re seeing here. Jane, let me start with you. Is it just way too much for a 15-year-old to be showing in the pages of "Vanity Fair," and let`s keep in mind, we`re talking about a 15-year-old who`s right there at the heart of this billion- dollar empire which, you know, is based on a squeaky clean image?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Very simply, A.J., yes. It is wrong. But I blame all of us because we all create this culture we`re in right now. This is a very fast-paced culture, a disposable culture and somebody can be world famous one year and be forgotten the next.
So these stars, even the young ones, have to constantly reinvent themselves ala Madonna. And the way you do that is by being provocative. Provocative means being sexual. So it`s a formula. And it`s really sad that we`re subjecting 15-year-olds to this formula today that to be successful, they have to be sexual.
And, you know, I thought maybe with this new generation, Miley Cyrus, we could change all that. Last week, we were talking about the fact she was going to write her memoirs. That was literary. That was intelligent. But now, we`re reducing even 15-year-olds to sex objects.
HAMMER: And that is what is right there at the heart of all this for a lot of people. What do you think, Shannon? You deal with moms all the time. Was the shoot too much for a 15-year-old star? You know, we`re talking about one whose fan base is really mostly made up of girls who are 14 and under?
SHANNON FOX, MOMLOGIC.COM: Absolutely. And I have clients who have their - four-year-old daughters are all about "Hannah Montana" and Miley Cyrus. So absolutely, Miley Cyrus and all of her people - they know what her fan base is made up of. They know that they`re young, young girls who are incredibly impressionable.
The reason that Miley Cyrus is so incredibly popular is because moms have felt like they can trust her. They can trust Disney and the "Hannah Montana" image to be wholesome and pure and really be a role model for their daughters. And this is not what they want their daughters to turn out like - a 15-year-old girl modeling seminude in a magazine.
HAMMER: Well, the photo`s not the only thing we`re getting a glimpse at here. There are some behind-the-scenes footage of the whole "Vanity Fair" shoot that`s also out there on Internet. I`ve got to say when you take a look at this footage, she seems pretty happy. She seems real relaxed there with dad, Billy Ray Cyrus.
That all said, Disney released a statement about the photos. Here`s what Disney is saying, quote, "The situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines." Ashleigh, does she look manipulated to you from what we can see there?
BANFIELD: Not in the stuff that I see with her dad, because, clearly, is on the set and he is her guardian. When it comes to the seminude picture, it`s my understanding that both of her parents were gone and the only guardians who were there were a teacher and a grandmother. That`s a little different.
So, no. I guess in the strict sense of the word, she wasn`t being manipulated. But in the court of law, it doesn`t matter if a child engages in consensual sex. It is rape because they`re children and they can`t make those kinds of decisions. This one`s a very gray area. And I can understand those who think that it is artistic. It`s different if it`s on the front cover - "The Post" or if it`s in "Vanity Fair." It`s a tough one.
HAMMER: Yes. And "Vanity Fair" has a great reputation for beautiful photo shoots, editorial shoots throughout the years. You bring up the point that - and this is according to Miley Cyrus` publicist - her parents were supposedly not there on the set according to a statement when that particular shot, the one in question, was taken.
So there`s a lot of finger-pointing going on. And despite what Disney is saying - and everybody`s talking about this thing. You have "View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg. I want to get to what she said on her show today. She`s saying, you can`t put all the blame on "Vanity Fair" magazine. Disney, her parents are also responsible here. Let`s watch what happened on "The View."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": If you dropped the ball here - because I`ll tell you, having done sort of done this. Annie Leibovitz will show you everything she`s doing.
SHERI SHEPHERD, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": They use a digital camera.
GOLDBERG: She uses a - you get 45 little images. Everybody comes and looks at it, your parents, all the folks who you`re doing this with. Everybody had a finger in choosing that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Well, Jane, what do you think? I read that statement from Disney. Is Whoopi right? Did Disney drop the ball? Now, they`re just kind of backtracking to cover their butts?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Whoopi is absolutely on the money. Of course, anybody who`s been on a photo shoot in the last couple of years knows you don`t develop the film anymore. The pictures are right there on a computer for everyone to see. The idea that she was somehow snookered into this, the girl at the center of a billion-dollar franchise, is nonsense.
These things don`t happen spontaneously, devil-may-care. Teams of publicists are involved in this. And this is another case where people do precisely what they want. And then they cover their bases by apologizing in order to have their cake and eat it, too. They`re trying to transition her to the next stage of her career, namely sex symbol, because they know she can`t be an ing,nue forever.
HAMMER: Is anybody else noticing a trend here with what`s been happening within the recent past with these young girls, good girls who seem to have gone bad in one way or another? Well, we here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, we`ve noticed a trend. Let me just recap for you some of what`s happened.
Last September, nude photo showing up on the Internet of Vanessa Hudgens, of course, the star of Disney`s "High School Musical" franchise. Britney`s little sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, star of Nickelodeon`s "Zoey 101," pregnant at 16 years old.
Now, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has also confirmed that those pictures that is surfaced on the Internet of Miley baring her bra and you know, she was posing seductively with her boyfriend - all really her. Shannon, what do you do? You know, I`m sure over there at "MomLogic.com," you`re hearing from parents who are beside themselves having to explain this to their kids?
FOX: Absolutely. We`ve already gotten an uproar from moms saying that they can`t believe that this role model for their children is now modeling seminude. They`ve already started to take the "Hannah Montana" dolls away from their daughters to start looking for someone else that they really can trust to be a good role model for their children.
And I`m sorry. I know that they said it was art. But really you could make that argument for anything. Maybe a photograph in "Playboy" is art. Any seminude picture of a 15-year-old girl is sex. It`s not art.
HAMMER: That`s what a lot of people are saying. Wow, I didn`t see this one coming at all. Jane Velez-Mitchell, Shannon Fox, Ashleigh Banfield, thank you all for being here tonight.
And we`ve been asking you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Sound off on this: Miley Cyrus` Racy Photo Scandal: Was it a mistake to pose for `Vanity Fair?`" You can keep voting at CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. You can also E-mail us at showbiztonight@cnn.com.
ANDERSON: So A.J., do you think all of this is going to hurt Miley`s career?
HAMMER: No, I think it`s just going to blow over. She`s totally unstoppable.
ANDERSON: I agree with you. And it kind of reminds me of another pop star we all know who was also criticized for being too sexy, too young.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOS SANTOS: I think everyone is saying that Miley is the new Britney. She started out so young. She`s so big. Everyone knows her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Miley is definitely giving Britney a run for her superstar money, and she`s not the only one. I can`t believe what`s going on in Hollywood right now. Breathtaking smack downs that we can`t stop watching. Yikes. A showbiz special report, the "it" girl is next.
HAMMER: Also, Brooke, poor Carrie Underwood. She had a breakdown right into tears at one of her concerts. What in the world happened? I`m going to tell you why Carrie got all choked up during one of her songs. That is coming up.
ANDERSON: And have you seen "Gossip Girl"? It`s not exactly "Mr. Rogers` Neighborhood." There is outrageously steamy stuff on there. And remember, these are supposed to be high school kids. Now, wait until you see why so many people are outraged over the show`s ad campaign. Does the letter F really stand for what we think it does? Maybe. Maybe not. That`s coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
And remember you can watch SHOWBIZ TONIGHT video anytime. We are always posting new stuff for you to watch at our Web site, CNN.com/ShowbizTonight.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROGDON: Miley Cyrus is the "it" girl. Her star is on the rise. She hasn`t crashed and burned like Britney has.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Miley may be dealing with controversy now. But there`s no doubt that she still comes out on top of the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "it" girl smackdown.
Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m Brooke Anderson. Miley Cyrus may be having a tough time, apologizing to fans for her racy photos in "Vanity Fair." I think it`s safe to say her career probably won`t take too big of a hit. This girl is unstoppable.
And one of a new generation of young women going head-to-head with the A- listers who dominated the fame game first. But here`s what I wanted to know. Will stars like Britney and Angelina successfully defend their titles or will the "it" girls in training prevail? It`s a showbiz special report, the "it" girl smackdown.
(voice over): In hot, young Hollywood, there always seems to be a pretty new face or an up-and-coming talent poised to become the latest "it" girl. But for all their hype, can this new generation of stars really kick unseat the old the guard of tried-and-true favorites.
RIHANNA: I hope so. I`m going to try my best.
ANDERSON: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is rating the contenders in a Hollywood "it" girl smackdown. Kicking off the competition is a mega match-up between Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus. It`s the original pop star tease versus Disney`s squeaky clean singing sensation.
DOS SANTOS: I think everyone is saying that Miley is the new Britney. She started out so young. She`s so big, everyone knows her.
ANDERSON: But there`s one major difference -
BRITNEY SPEARS, POP STAR (sung): I`m not that innocent
ANDERSON: One has bounced back from the brink of self-destruction while the other has stayed on the straight and narrow, avoiding drugs and all the drama.
MILEY CYRUS, STAR OF "HANNAH MONTANA": There`s nothing to quit if you never get started. So I think, you know, you have surround yourself with good people that can keep you away from that.
BROGDON: Miley Cyrus is the "it" girl. Her star is on the rise. She hasn`t crashed and burned like Britney has.
ANDERSON: Looks like Miley scores the knockout blow.
Next up, it`s a below-the-belt battle between action hero sex kitten. Angelina Jolie kicked some major butt in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" with Megan Fox following suit in "Transformers."
MEGAN FOX, ACTRESS: It was phenomenal. It blew me away.
ANDERSON: And with their bee-stung lips and tattoo fetish, these look- alikes could be sisters. But that`s where the similarities end.
BROGDON: In the Angelina Jolie-Megan Fox match-up, there`s no contest. It has to go to Angelina Jolie. Now, Megan Fox is a stunningly beautiful girl. But number one, who is she hanging out with? Brian Austin Green of "90210." Not exactly Brad Pitt.
ANDERSON: There is one move Megan could take from Angie`s repertoire to up her "it" girl quotient.
DOS SANTOS: Two words for Megan Fox - "African baby." Until you get one of those, you`re really not going to be any match for Angelina. What we need to be reminded of is to know what is possible and what are the beautiful things that can be formed through our diversity.
ANDERSON: With her copy-cat down for the count, humanitarian globe trotter Angelina Jolie emerges as the clear winner in this sexy showdown.
Round three of our Hollywood "it" girl smackdown features a hot mess match- up between two no-holds-barred rocker girls. The always unpredictable Courtney Love finds a fierce competitor in Amy Winehouse.
AMY WINEHOUSE, MUSICIAN: Yes, I guess so. I will.
ANDERSON: Whether it`s Courtney blogging on MySpace about her botched plastic surgery, or Amy allegedly doing drugs on videotape, there`s always something about these two tortured musicians that has us saying oh, no, no, no.
BROGDON: In that smackdown, I`d totally give it to Amy Winehouse. Her troubles with drugs and her husband - you know, if you`re 22 or 20, people kind of expect it. But when you`re a middle-aged woman, you have a teenaged daughter, if you`ve got the "it" factor, you`re not the "it" girl.
ANDERSON: And the "it" girl title goes to Amy Winehouse, whether she wants it or not.
WINEHOUSE: I don`t really care enough about what people think of me to conform to anything.
ANDERSON: In what SHOWBIZ TONIGHT could call Hollywood`s own battle of the bulges, round four is old-school "Bay Watch" babe Pam Anderson versus the voluptuous socialite Kim Kardashian.
DOS SANTOS: Pam Anderson has a big, big advantage on Kim Kardashian. She obviously is very well-endowed with a scripted television career, which I`m sure everyone was thinking of.
ANDERSON: Our thoughts, exactly. And the beautiful bombshells have more than curves in common. Both have had sex tape scandals and now "E!" reality shows.
KIM KARDASHIAN, SOCIALITE: One of the reasons I was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to do a reality show is there are so many stereotypes of what Hollywood kids are like. I don`t want stay in a piece (EXPLETIVE DELETED) of hotel like everything that you booked me in Miami has been the worst hotel ever.
ANDERSON: Thank goodness. Kim laid those tired, old cliches to rest. But Pam still wins the "it" girl breast - I mean, best in show.
And now, the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT grand throw-down between trendsetting R & B divas. Are we still living in Janet Jackson`s "Rhythm Nation," or are we standing under Rihanna`s umbrella, ella, ella, ella.
DOS SANTOS: I have to go with Janet Jackson. I mean she`s got the Jackson name going for her. Rihanna doesn`t even have a last name.
ANDERSON: But being cutting edge is an important trait in an "it" girl, and Barbados-born Rihanna definitely works that angle to her advantage.
RIHANNA, SINGER: I just felt a little rebellious. I wanted to do what I wanted to do, do something different and do something a little more daring and risky.
ANDERSON: Ms. Jackson could have been a contender, but the "it" girl crown in this final round has to go to Rihanna. And now, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you the secret "it" factor to becoming an "it" girl.
BROGDON: To be an "it" girl, you have to be somebody that women want to be like and men want to be with. And when that starts to diminish, that`s when you need to go and find another profession.
ANDERSON: So ladies and gentlemen, there you have it - the reigning "it" girl champs better stay on their toes. Because at least some of their challengers are gaining ground and Hollywood may not be big enough for them all.
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ANDERSON: And Rihanna`s "it" girl train keeps on rolling. She`s traveling the country this spring on tour with Kanye West.
HAMMER: She is so talented. Well, it was a really emotional moment for Carrie Underwood on stage in Atlanta. During her concert with Keith Urban, Carrie actually broke down in tears in the middle of a song. She was performing the tune "Don`t Forget to Remember Me."
Now, her rep says the song is all about Carrie`s family and leaving home. And she just got overwhelmed in the moment. Well, later in the concert, Carrie perked up again and she said she has found the love of her life - her dog "Ace".
Well, on Friday, we told you that Tom Cruise is returning to the scene of couch of jumping crime. He is coming back as a guest on "Oprah" for two episodes. The first one is going to air this Friday.
So we asked you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day - "Tom Cruise Going Back To `Oprah`: Is it a good idea? Look at how the voting went. Only 30 percent of you said yes; 70 percent of you said no.
Here are a couple of the E-mails we got. We heard from Deanette(ph) in Texas who writes, "I won`t be watching because I am tired of Tom Cruise, just like a lot of people. What is Oprah thinking?"
Eileen from Indiana writes, "Who really cares if he jumps on a couch? Most people are just jealous of his fame and fortune."
ANDERSON: So have you seen the new "Gossip Girl" ad campaign? It`s a really racy photo with the letters O-M-F-G. But what could that possibly mean?
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RICK HASKINS, EYE MARKETING CW: You can say, "Oh my freaking goodness!" Other people think it means other things.
ANDERSON (on camera): Are you kidding?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Yes, I wasn`t really buying that explanation from the network. So I went to the streets and got the real story of what people think it means. Next on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, the four little letters spelling big controversy for "Gossip Girl." Stay with us.
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ANDERSON: Well, if you`ve seen "Gossip Girl," you know it`s not exactly "Sesame Street." The teen drama is chock-full of raunchy material. But the biggest drama the show has seen so far is coming from the way it`s being advertised. Four little letters that are spelling big controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I`m going to the bar.
ANDERSON (voice over): Drinking, drugs, sex -
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Porn and handcuffs? Really?
ANDERSON: And they`re still in high school. It`s no secret "Gossip Girl" is racy. But it`s the show`s provocative new ad campaign that has many, including the Parents` Television Council, outraged.
MELISSA HENSON, PARENTS` TELEVISION COUNCIL: They`re using nothing but sex to sell this program. Lowest common denominator, I think, is a good way to describe it.
ANDERSON: Two high schoolers appearing to have sex with the acronym OMFG slashed online on posters and billboards in plain view of unsuspecting kids and parents.
HASKINS: Some people could say, "Oh my freaking goodness." Other people could think it means other things.
ANDERSON (on camera): Are you kidding?
HASKINS: No.
ANDERSON: Rick Haskins, the vice president of marketing at the CW, which airs "Gossip Girl" is serious when he says it`s open to interpretation.
HASKINS: What it stands for is an explanation of surprise or I can`t believe it.
ANDERSON (on camera): It`s been called raunchy. It`s been borderline pornography. You don`t agree with that?
HASKINS: No, not at all.
ANDERSON: Haskins insists the campaign isn`t sending a negative message and that the ads like these on this public sidewalk are meant for older viewers.
HASKINS: OMG or OMFG, whichever one you want to say are just letters. Anyone you talk to - talk to 10 people and they will give you probably 10 different answers.
ANDERSON (voice over): We spoke to more than 30 people and everyone, except two women in their 60s, said they knew what it meant. One thing -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) god.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) god.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) god?
ANDERSON (on camera): Could it possibly stand for anything else?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t believe so.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it`s blasphemy, actually.
ANDERSON (voice over): The PTC is considering pressuring advertisers and is already warning parent.
HENSON: Rather than reinforcing positive values that parents are trying to instill in their children, this program very often is undermining these positive values.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I got in way over my head.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: I want to mention, the CW Network which airs "Gossip Girl" is owned by Time Warner, the parent company of CNN.
HAMMER: Well, that`s it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Thanks a lot for watching. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. Remember, you can always catch SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on the 11:00s - 11:00 p.m. Eastern, 11:00 p.m. Pacific, and in the morning, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern The latest from "CNN HEADLINE NEWS" is next. Take care.
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