"I Feel So Embarrassed"

UNDER FIRE FOR CONTROVERSIAL PHOTOS IN VANITY FAIR AND ON THE INTERNET, TEEN SUPERSTAR MILEY CYRUS SPEAKS OUT: "I AM NOT PERFECT". On April 27, it seemed like business as usual for the Cyrus family in their hometown of Franklin, Tenn. Singer Billy Ray Cyrus and his daughter Miley attended a private screening of a movie by Peter Chelsom, the director of her upcoming Hannah Montana feature film. The day of father-daughter bonding also included a family dinner at the Wolfgang Puck Express across the street. Says a witness: "Miley was low-key."

By the next morning there was nothing low-key about being Miley Cyrus. The Disney darling-who stars in the sassy-but-squeaky-clean title role of the hit Disney Channel series Hannah Montana-found herself in the eye of a media firestorm after news hit that a revealing portrait of the 15-year-old would appear in June's Vanity Fair. The photo, in which Miley is posed shirtless but partially covered in a satin stole, was released just days after personal photos leaked onto the Internet of the teen star cuddling with a boy and showing her bra (see box). Debate over whether the photos were too racy for a young teen-and for her even younger fans-became a hot topic from The View to countless blogs. In a statement to PEOPLE, Miley apologized for both sets of pictures. "I feel so embarrassed," she said, adding of her fans, "[I] hope they understand that along the way I am going to make mistakes and I am not perfect."

But for a Disney princess who is known for her Christian faith and tight-knit family-and whose show is so popular that merchandise sales are expected to hit a billion dollars this year-there's considerable pressure to keep a pristine public image. Will the photos do damage to Miley's career? On one blog, a mom contemplated burning her kid's Hannah Montana merchandise, but many fans support Miley. "What we're hearing the most is that [young fans] are disappointed, but they still love her," says Denise Restauri, founder of AllyKatzz.com, a social networking site for teens and tweens. "They want to believe in her." (In a People.com poll, 77 percent of readers thought the Vanity Fair portrait was inappropriate, but only 52 percent thought it would hurt her career.) Industry experts aren't too worried about her. "Miley has a bank of goodwill," says Jerry Del Colliano, a music industry professor at USC. "These pictures aren't going to hurt her now, but if she doesn't keep it clean she won't be able to rebound as quickly." And there are some who think the Vanity Fair story was worth the risk. "She's growing up," says John Eckel, CEO of Alliance Entertainment and Sports Marketing. "She's going to be stretching as a performer. She may lose some moms as fans, but now people see her in a new light."

Other young stars have also weighed in. "It's not what I would choose to do," Disney alum Hilary Duff, 20, says of the Vanity Fair photo. "It's not an easy position to be in. People are pushing you to do something, and if you want to do it, that's your choice." Adds former Nickelodeon star Emma Roberts, 17, of fame in the MySpace age: "You're a kid, people take pictures. It just stinks that we're all growing up in the spotlight and everyone has to see it."

The Disney Channel stands by Miley and claims Vanity Fair's renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz encouraged her to pose for the photo during the February shoot. "A situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines," says a Disney rep. Vanity Fair says Miley's parents, Billy Ray and Tish, or other minders were present for the entire shoot. "Since the photo was taken digitally, they saw it on the shoot and everyone thought it was a beautiful and natural portrait of Miley." But a source close to the Cyrus family says that the shirtless picture was taken after Miley's parents left the shoot and only her grandmother and teacher were on hand. "[Annie] took advantage of the opportunity," says the source, adding that Miley's parents "are mortified." Leibovitz says in a statement that she is sorry the "simple, classic" photo has been "misinterpreted."

Miley can weather the storm, says fellow Disney Channel star Brenda Song, 20. "She is probably the most charismatic and strong 15-year-old I know. She'll definitely get through this." Says Miley: "My family and my faith will guide me through my life's journey.... I will learn from my mistakes."

"I NEVER INTENDED FOR ANY OF THIS TO HAPPEN AND I AM TRULY SORRY IF I HAVE DISAPPOINTED ANYONE"

-MILEY CYRUS

About the Internet Photos...

Miley calls these leaked photos "silly, inappropriate shots." The guy? Her then-boyfriend Thomas Sturges, the son of one of her music producers.

Surviving Teen Scandalsface

Miley Cyrus is definitely not the first young star to deal with a controversy over provocative photos or roles. How did these celebs handle the hot seat?

1976

JODIE FOSTER

When she played a child prostitute in Taxi Driver at age 14, some critics cringed. She got her first Oscar nod for the role.

1980

BROOKE SHIELDS

The 14-year-old model caused a furor with her famous jeans slogan-"Nothing comes between me and my Calvins"-but she made close to a million dollars that year.

1999

BRITNEY SPEARS

After her bra-and-hot-pants shoot at 17 and her skimpy schoolgirl outfit in her "... Baby One More Time" video sparked debate on sexualizing adolescence. She's since sold 70 million CDs.

2007

VANESSA HUDGENS

Her nude photos-which the High School Musical star, then 17, had sent a boyfriend-leaked to the Web. She apologized, Disney stood by her, and she's now shooting HSM 3.

Fashion and politics: stand by your party.

Would you buy this bag if you knew part of the money from the sale went to a political party? Designers Rachelle Copeland and Emily Ironi of Alexis Hudson think you would. They teamed up with Los Angeles artist Greg Miller to create the "Change" bag which embodies the creator's vision of the future, i.e., having a healthy planet,  economy and society. But what does that even mean anyway? The bag costs $95 with 10% of the proceeds will go to support the Democratic campaign. I'm just curious- are the designers donating to a specific candidate or the DNC?? And the mission of designing bag is to use style and fashion in order to rally a new audience of voters. Last time I checked, 99.9% of the fashion industry and "it" bag carrying girls were already registered Democrats. Not that I'm the expert (when it comes to politics), but if you are going to make a political statement wouldn't you do it in the form of an overt "statement" tee shirt the Marc Jacobs did it? P.S. designer Nili Lotan sent me a "war theme" scarf with machine guns on it. Does that mean I support our president if I wear it? Just sayin'...

 

The Marc Jacobs "Hillary" tee shirt

Fashion Week in Cleveland...

OK before everyone starts to freak about "yet another fashion week in a small city," here me out.  I am in love with the little city of Cleveland. Last year I went for a weekend and it was fabulous.  The Indians were playing the gross Red Sox, the people were seriously lovely (even though their team lost), the food was great and I was actually a little sad to be coming back to New York.  With that said, I wasn't really sure what they meant by "fashion week in Cleveland" when I came across this article on cleveland.com.  This piece outlined a talk given by Megan Spagnolo, costume curator at the Western Reserve Historical Society about the history of children's clothes.  How cute, right?? Did you know the color "pink" was orginally meant for boys because red was seen as a masculine color? Did you also know boys and girls used to wear dresses? Why is Cleveland so damn wholesome?? Ooh I just want to give it a good squeeze!!

$%#%^&*! American Airlines!!!

I usually love flying American Airlines but today I've had it. I won't go into the long story of why I hit a wall with them today, or how they kept me on the phone for 30 minutes talking nonsense, or how they totally mis- informed me about one of my tickets expiring, or how their annoying customer service doesn't have a direct line for complains. I will say I know understand why the airline industry is coming a part at the seams. Argh!!

The Bowery: NYC's new retail space.

(Perry Ferrel, John Varvatos and Slash)

(Joan Jett- she still looks and sounds AMAZING)

I'm sure you've been hearing the buzz. The Bowery, the street once known for the best place to score a $25 hooker and a bag of blow is now home to some of the coolest designer stores on the planet- and peeps aren't so excited about it.  Just last month John Varvatos hosted an opening party at the old CBGBs- but here's the thing- that's actually their space now. For those die hard music fans, that bit of news was hard to swallow. I mean, how can the home of punk music and New York's underground be a place where $400 cashmere sweaters are being sold?? Varvatos DID do a good job preserving the original facade, so I'm not so offended by it (in fact I love it),  but would love to hear you all think...

It's been crazy.

OK, I took a short term hiatus from the blog because it's been really, really nuts lately. If you hit the magazine stand often you'll know what I mean. I've been staffed on some pretty major stories for a totally awesome magazine that I can't mention on this blog. BUT that doesn't mean you can't go to your favorite newsstand and search for my byline to figure out which magazine it is! C'mon! I know you want to spend hours of your day looking for my name everywhere! In addition to the all the writing, the Fox Biz segments and generally trying to get my self together, I've been going out. A LOT. I forgot how fun spring is in the city...

Hollywood's Riche$t Kids

THEY MAY NOT BE OLD ENOUGH TO VOTE, BUT THEY'RE MAKING MILLIONS AND SELLING OUT ARENAS. HOW THESE 15-AND-UNDER SUPERSTARS ARE CASHING IN AND LIVING IT UP. TOOK HOME $17.5 MILLION FOR HER TOUR

Miley Cyrus

ACTRESS-SINGER, AGE 15

MILEY'S MILLIONS

She's a one-kid industry: Disney Channel's Hannah Montana is cable's top kids' series; she signed a seven-figure deal for a book about her family; her sold-out tour had Barack Obama scrambling for tickets; her concert movie grossed $65 million. Billy Ray's girl earned roughly $17.5 million from the tour alone, but mom Tish, 40, swears all that cash isn't going to Miley's head: "A lot goes into her [investment fund], which she can't get until she's 18. At the end of the day, she doesn't have much left."

SPLURGES

She collects Electra bikes: "I like their old-school design, and they're fun to ride." Until she's old enough to drive: She told Jay Leno in February, "I want a vintage Corvette."

MILEY BY THE NUMBERS

$50 million ticket sales for her recent tour (Miley gets an estimated $1 million per week)

6.5 million albums sold

$1 billion projected fiscal year 2007-2008 sales of Hannah Montana merchandise (Miley gets an unknown percentage)

EARNED $12 MILLION IN 2007

Jonas Brothers

MUSICIANS

BORN TO ROCK

They're the teen world's hottest band-and according to estimates, 15-year-old Nick (right) and brothers Joe, 18 (center), and Kevin, 20 (left), earned about $12 million in 2007 from album sales of 1.2 million, touring with Miley Cyrus, merchandising and appearances.

NEXT UP

The Wyckoff, N.J., natives (managed by Dad Kevin) continue their own 140-date tour and star in a June 20 Disney Channel movie, Camp Rock-with tie-in products galore. A TV series, J.O.N.A.S., is in the works.

THEIR SPLURGES

The brothers bought new computers and a diamond-encrusted Chopard watch for their mom, Denise. They also give 10 percent of their earnings to Nick's charity, Change for the Children Foundation. But there's some left over: Snappy dresser Nick nabbed $1,550 John Lobb shoes (below).

$1,550 SHOES!

PRIME-TIME POWER

ANGUS T. JONES

AGE 14

With a salary of roughly $1.2 million per season on CBS's Two and a Half Men, Jones is one of the richest half men in Hollywood. "It's a slow build for kids in the industry," says a casting agent. But the Austin, Texas, native, who's tutored on-set, has likely seen pay increases, thanks to the show's longevity.

MARK INDELICATO

AGE 13

The youngest costar of ABC's Ugly Betty isn't blowing through his estimated $460,000-per-season salary. The biggest indulgence for the Philly-born star, who does his schooling online? Kiehl's and Clarins skin-care products, to avoid breakouts.

TYLER JAMES WILLIAMS

AGE 15

"I'm good for three things," the Everybody Hates Chris star told PEOPLE when he was cast on the CW series in 2005 "Making fried-baloney sandwiches, picking out good movies and making money." That's for sure: The Yonkers, N.Y., native now has an estimated salary of $1.2 million per season.

WHO'S THE NEXT TWEEN QUEEN?

THESE DISNEY AND NICK STARS ARE ON THE ROAD TO RICHES

MIRANDA COSGROVE

AGE 14

STARS IN

Nickelodeon's iCarly (average: 3.6 million viewers)

QUALIFICATIONS

The L.A. native sings on an iCarly album, out in June.

WHY SHE'LL RULE

"She has this amazing combination of laid-back cool and class," says creator Dan Schneider.

SELENA GOMEZ

AGE 15

STARS IN

Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place (average: 3.8 million viewers)

QUALIFICATIONS

The Texan, a voice on Horton Hears a Who!, sings too.

WHY SHE'LL RULE

"Her innate talent and beauty leap off the screen," says Disney Channel entertainment president Gary Marsh.

MOVIE MOGULS

MAKES $2 MILLION A MOVIE

Abigail Breslin

AGE 12

The Oscar nominee (Little Miss Sunshine) saw her asking price go up to an estimated $2 million when she shot current release Nim's Island and the upcoming Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. In spite of her workload, the New Yorker remains a regular 12-year-old, splurging on tween books The Clique and-what else?-American Girl dolls and Jonas Brothers CDs.

THE BILLION-HEIRS

RICHEST MOGUL KIDS

THE GATESES

Microsoft founder Bill's kids, Jennifer, 12, Rory, 8, and Phoebe, 5, are heirs to a reported $58 billion.

RICHEST CELEB KID

JETT LUCAS

The teen and his two big siblings will share in Star Wars creator George Lucas's $3.9-billion empire.

RICHEST ROYAL KID?

PRINCESS ALEXANDRA OF HANOVER

The 8-year-old daughter of Monaco's Princess Caroline and Ernst August is an heir to her parents' $1.3 billion.

DAKOTA FANNING

AGE 14

Fanning's star rose quickly after 2001's I Am Sam. She has since starred with Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington-and shot up the earnings ladder. The Conyers, Ga., native now makes up to $4 million for big films. "She performs at the box office," says a casting agent. "She can open movies." She has also done ads for Gap and Marc Jacobs. Little sis Elle, 10, is right behind her, with upcoming films including Brad Pitt's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

ALLOWANCES WHO GETS WHAT

ABIGAIL BRESLIN: The mini-millionaire gets $11 a week.

MARK INDELICATO: The Ugly Betty star receives $50 a week; he spends it on computer games and clothes.

DAKOTA FANNING: $0 a week. As she told Barbara Walters, "My [parents] want me to [help] because I want to."

THE GRADUATES

These stars are moving on from the teen world with nest eggs that would make most grown-ups jealous. But did they earn a cap and gown? Most of them went to high school-just not the conventional way.

MAGICAL MONEYMAKERS

DANIEL RADCLIFFE, 18

He'll earn $50 million for the final Harry Potter films and star in Broadway's Equus this fall.

EMMA WATSON, 18

Pulling down a reported $4 million per Potter, she wants to attend Cambridge University.

RUPERT GRINT, 19

Making a similar sum as Watson, he'll choose more acting work over school.

Polygamist's have style too!

OK maybe it's not something you and I would wear, but the AP is reporting those modest parie skirts, puff sleeve pastel dresses and poofy hair dos we've been seeing ALL OVER THE NEWS have roots in the 19th century and also the 1950s. This conformist way of dressing is to ensure these ladies are unattractive to the outside world or other men.  But what happens when this stuff goes mainstream?? I am expecting to see a bunch of hipsters rockin' this look very soon... in an ironic way of course...

Man Trouble

A bounced check and allegations of improper business deals raise troubling questions about ANNE HATHAWAY's debonair boyfriend, RAFFAELLO FOLLIERI. Since Anne Hathaway began dating Raffaello Follieri in 2004, The Devil Wears Prada star and the dashing Italian real estate developer have often seemed to be starring in their own version of a big-budget Hollywood romance: yachting in St. Bart's, clubbing in Saint-Tropez and, when they aren't dining in some of Manhattan's finest restaurants, playing house in his palatial Fifth Avenue apartment, where Follieri cooks homemade pasta and she dotes on their Labrador retriever Esmeralda. "They are such a good match," a friend says of the couple. "She loves passionate people who are caring. He is also very calming. Whenever there is stress, he's good at being soothing."

These days he may have a lot of soothing to do. On April 3, Follieri, 29, who moved to New York in '03 to launch a business buying and redeveloping property owned by the Roman Catholic Church, turned himself in to police after bouncing a $215,000 check written to a New Jersey real estate executive. Charged with a misdemeanor, Follieri is scheduled to appear in court on May 12.

While a spokeswoman for Follieri called the episode "an unfortunate incident that got out of hand," it is not the young entrepreneur's first brush with the legal system. In early '07, California supermarket magnate Ron Burkle sued Follieri, claiming that he used funds that Burkle's firm had invested in his company to subsidize a lavish lifestyle. Among the alleged splurges: private jet travel, $40,000-a-month rent on an eight-bedroom apartment, shopping sprees at Prada and dog care for Esmeralda.

Follieri-who in 2002 had passed a number of bad checks in Italy-has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the Burkle affair. "Anne is wealthy, and he is wealthy in his own right," a friend says of Follieri, who is in the process of settling with Burkle. "He doesn't need to scam people to pay for a lavish lifestyle." Others aren't so sure. Although Follieri's family has been in Italian real estate-and has been close to the Vatican-for many years, how much money he made redeveloping U.S. church property is unclear. "This guy may have been on his way to becoming a multimillionaire," says a source close to the lawsuit. "[But] he didn't want to wait. He wanted to live high on the hog now."

However it was paid for, Follieri clearly enjoyed living la dolce vita with Hathaway, 25. "Before I met him, I wasted so much time," the actress told London's Sunday Times. They became regulars on the social circuit, even hobnobbing with Bill Clinton, who thanked Follieri for his charitable pledge at a Clinton Global Initiative meeting. Follieri even boasted that he was going to help deliver the Catholic vote to Hillary Clinton. Since Follieri's dispute with Burkle, a longtime Clinton supporter, the former President's camp has cut ties. A source says, "With a credit card with a high limit, some charm and an overplayed Italian accent, it turns out you can fool a lot of people."

Is Hathaway one of them? Sources say the couple are very much in love. "[We] worship each other," the actress told Newsweek last year. And friends don't expect her to forsake him over the latest crisis. "I do think she'll stick with him," says one pal. "She really loves him, but it's going to be hard. Sometimes it's hard to believe him. Your faith gets shaken."

"I hear these stories about what Raffaello's done and can't equate it to the person I know. He's been a very stable influence. That's why Annie's so attracted to him"

-A FRIEND OF THE COUPLE

Despite Kalinsky, Norstrom STILL falters.

Man, you know the economy is REAL bad when someone like Jeffrey Kalinsky can't save a retailer like Nordstrom! The other day the retailer reported a fall in same store sales by 9.1% far worse than what analysts expected. Total sales dipped to $750 million from $803 million in 2007.  Jeffrey, who started the extremely well edited and influential Jeffrey boutiques in New York and Atlanta sold a majority interest of his stores to Norstrom and took on a full time gig. Problem is even his keen eye for knowing what's hot way before it sizzles (I bought my Balenciaga motorcycle bag because I saw it first at Jeffrey six years ago), isn't really working for Nordstrom right now.  The tourists aren't buying into it either!

Same store sales numbers are out and I am talking about it on Fox Business today!!

Retail same store sales for April were for the most part on low side. What's new? What's shocking are the double digit drop Gap, Abercrombie and Fitch as well as American Eagle experienced!! I'll be talking about all of this today on Fox Business at around 12:30 pm!!

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On Fox Business today!!

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I'm talking about malls and how they are one of the biggest losers in this recession we are in. But not because all of these other little stores are going out of business, it's because the larger retailers like JC Penny's can't get the traffic in!! AND no one wants to buy anything because gas is so expensive!! Why would I drive to the mall (if I lived in a mall market) when I could be saving that gas to go to work?? Tune in if you are near a TV- I go on at 2:50 pm EST! Also, thank you to everyone that wrote in with their "time management" suggestions- will post those a little later.

Time management.

Ever get that deer in headlights feeling? Ever feel totally overwhelmed with all the stuff you have to do? Well that's me right now. I LITERALLY HAVE 20 THINGS TO DO and I refuse to stay up all night and do them. If anyone has any time management suggestions, please let me know. Dying over here. It's not funny anymore.

"Inspired" or just straight up copying?

Working, breathing and living in the fashion industry you often (well, way more than often- try every ten minutes) hear the word "inspired." Desigers are inspired by nature, the street, other designers, movies... the list goes on. But where does the line between inspiration and just straight up copying get blurred? Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee explained to Suzy Menkes from the International Herald Tribune he was "inspired" by the "Frida Khalo movie" to put braids in the hair of all his models during his runway show. Why can't he just say he fully adopted the look?? In fact, why can't all designers just tell it like it is- "Oh yes," says designer X. "I totally copied Valentino circa 1975 for my new collection."  I don't think I would respect a designer any more or less if they were just honest... just sayin'.