This June 29, 2013 file photo shows Miley Cyrus hosting the iHeartRadio Ultimate Pool Party at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami. NBC said Monday, Sept. 9, that the singer and actress, who popularized the word twerking and found new uses for foam fingers during an attention-getting duet with Robin Thicke on the MTV Video Music Awards last month, will be both host and musical guest of the NBC late-night program on Oct. 5.Jeff Daly/The Associated Press
If you thought it ended at twerking with teddy bears, you were wrong.
Wasting no time to capitalize on of her much-angsted-about VMA performance, Miley Cyrus has released a new music video, Wrecking Ball, which is so filled with designed-to-shock moments that watching it is like going through a how-to list for creating controversy.
Ride naked atop a wrecking ball? Check.
Strut about in tighty-whities and a skimpy white tank top sans bra? Check.
Simulate fellatio on a sledgehammer? Check. (Tongue splinters, anyone?)
But, in reality, the only genuinely controversial thing about the pop singer's new video may well be the choice of director.
Fashion photographer Terry Richardson, who has worked with someone of the biggest names in fashion, is as well known for his overtly sexual style as for the allegations of sexual impropriety.
In the past few years, the tattooed, bespeckled photographer who once said "It's not who you know, it's who you blow. I don't have a hole in my jeans for nothing," has been accused multiple times of exploiting young models.
In March, 2010, model Jamie Peck accused Richardson of forcing her to touch him and call him "Uncle Terry" while he walked around naked during a shoot. That same month, model Rie Rasmussen said this about him: "He takes girls who are young, manipulates them to take their clothes off and takes pictures of them they will be ashamed of," she said.
"His 'look' is girls who appear underage, abused, look like heroin addicts … I don't understand how anyone works with him."
Richardson denied these allegations, calling them false. "I just want to take a moment to say I'm really hurt by the recent and false allegations of insensitivity and misconduct," he wrote in a statement at the time. "I've always been considerate and respectful of the people I photograph and I view what I do as a real collaboration between myself and the people in front of the camera."
Despite the controversy, Richardson has continued snapping up lucrative ad campaigns and collaborating with celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Kate Upton.
When asked by the L.A. Times whether Cyrus is aware of the allegations against Richardson, a spokesperson for the singer did not respond.