Teenage Disney star apologizes for posing nude

Vanessa Hudgens, star of the Walt Disney Company's hugely lucrative "High School Musical" films, has apologized to fans for the nude pictures of hers that are being splashed on the Internet, media reports said Tuesday.

The raunchy pictures depict the 18-year-old posing in various states of undress, including completely naked. In a statement issued recently, Hudgens asked for forgiveness from her fans, and said that the situation has left her embarrassed.

"I am embarrassed over this situation and regret having ever taken these photos. I am thankful for the support of my family and friends," the 18-year-old star said Friday.

"High School Musical" is Walt Disney Company's most successful show over the last two years generating profits to the tune of 1 billion U.S. dollars.

Just to make things more difficult, the photograph was allegedly taken by Zac Efron, Hudgens's 19-year-old boyfriend, and her co-star on the show. Together, the couple are by far the biggest "tween" stars in America, frequently appearing on the covers of celebrity magazines.

All this has left Walt Disney company with an impossible dilemma. If it supports Hudgens, will more nude pictures, some more explicit than the first, later emerge? And if it dumps Hudgens, will fans dump the show?

So far, the company has chosen to back Hudgens, for fear of meddling with a proven formula, thus forcing parents across the United States to have to explain to their children why their teen idol had disappeared from the screen.

The release of the images could pose trouble for Hudgens, who is currently in negotiations for a third "High School Musical" film.

And sources are claiming that the film's production house may have second thoughts about casting her in the light of the notorious episode. However, Hudgens' representative Jill Fritzo insists that all rumours that the singer-actress has been kicked out from future productions are untrue.


Source: Agencies