A controversy had erupted over the photo of the 15-year-old teen superstar Miley Cyrus (better known as Hannah Montana):

One photo shows Cyrus topless but clutching a sheet to her chest, her bare back exposed, looking toward the camera over one shoulder.

A caption alongside the photo reads: "Um, was Cyrus — or Disney — at all anxious about this shot?" It then quotes Cyrus as saying: "No, I mean I had a blanket on. And I thought, ‘This looks pretty, and really natural.’ I think it’s really artsy."

The photos were taken by Annie Leibovitz, a renowned photographer known for her portraits of celebrities.

The magazine refers to the "topless but demure portrait" as Leibovitz’s idea and quotes Cyrus as saying, "It wasn’t in a skanky way … And you can’t say no to Annie. She’s so cute. She gets this puppy dog look and you’re like, ‘O.K.’"

A Disney Channel spokesman, Patti McTeague, said in a statement on Sunday that the photos were meant to sell magazines.

"Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines," her statement said.

My respect for Annie Leibovitz, an accomplished photographer known for her portraits of celebrities, had just gone to zero. I’ve never had any respect for Vanity Fair. Ugh.

Link | DListed has the controversial pic (I think it was yanked off the Vanity Fair website) – Thanks Geekazoid!

Photo: Annie Leibovitz

Famous photographer Annie Leibovitz had done a series of stylized photos for Disney’s ad campaign “Year of a Million Dreams” (we covered this back in November 2007). Now, she has more pics, like the Jennifer Lopez as Princess Jasmine and Marc Anthony as Aladdin shown above.

Check out the gallery at Super Punch

Update 1/28/08 – Digital News Agency has the “making of” video: Link – Thanks Debbie Schogger!

This post at Brand Flakes For Breakfast reminded me of Annie Leibovitz’s incredible photographs for Disney. The newest images in the campaign feature Roger Federer as King Arthur from “The Sword in the Stone,” Julie Andrews as the Blue Fairy of “Pinocchio,” Abigail Breslin as Fira from the Disney Fairies series, and Rachel Weisz as Snow White. The first photos in the campaign (which Alex blogged about in January) featured Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella, Beyoncé Knowles as Alice in Wonderland, Lyle Lovett as the March Hare, Oliver Platt as the Mad Hatter, and David Beckham as Sleeping Beauty’s Prince. I’ve posted desktop wallpaper-sized versions of all of the photos here (actually, some of the photos are huge).

Here’s the campaign’s underwhelming official site. And go here or here for some candid behind the scenes shots. Anyone have some ideas for future photos in the campaign?

Photo: Annie Leibovitz

Famous photographer Annie Leibovitz [wiki] is teaming up with Disney to take pictures of celebrities dressed as various Disney characters for Year of a Million Dreams ad campaign. The photo above is Beyonce Knowles dressed up as Alice, Lyle Lovett as the March Hare and Oliver Platt as the Mad Hatter.

USA Today has the scoop: Link – via Eduyayo