LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Glee” actress Dianna Agron has apologized for any offense caused to young fans by a racy photoshoot for men’s magazine GQ, saying the controversial pictures “do not represent who I am.”
Agron, 24, who plays high school cheerleader Quinn in the hit TV musical comedy, said in a lengthy message on her blog that, “If you are hurt or these photos make you uncomfortable, it was never our intention.”
The GQ photoshoot featuring Agron and “Glee” actress Lea Michele (Rachel) in high heels and scanty underwear in a high-school setting, was attacked by a US parent’s group and greeted with dismay by several TV writers and critics. Actor Cory Monteith (Finn) also took part.
The GQ cover shoot came shortly after the broadcast of a Britney Spears themed episode of the Emmy award winning show about a struggling high school choir.
“For GQ, they asked us to play very heightened versions of our school characters. A ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ version. At the time, it wasn’t my favourite idea, but I did not walk away,” Agron wrote in her blog, saying she was speaking only for herself.
Broadcaster Fox, which airs the show, and “Glee” producers have declined to comment. Michele and Monteith have so far been silent.
“Glee”, which is watched by more than 13 million Americans weekly, many of them teenagers, has been one of the most talked about shows on US television for its combination of joyous music and themes like teen sexuality, disability, death, and gay issues.
Agron noted that the controversial photo spread was not the first to push the envelope in a world of celebrity figures like Madonna, Spears, Miley Cyrus and the TV show “Gossip Girl”.
“Now, in perpetuating the type of images that evoke these kind of emotions, I am sorry. And if your eight-year-old has a copy of our GQ cover in hand, again I am sorry. But I would have to ask, how on Earth did it get there?” she wrote.
“I have been a pretty tame and easy-going girl my whole life. Nobody is perfect, and these photos do not represent who I am… These aren’t photos I am going to frame and put on my desk, but hey, nor are any of the photos I take for magazines,“ Agron added.
