Miley Cyrus' Asian Woes: Apologies Unaccepted, a Billion-Dollar Lawsuit, and Slammed by Margaret Cho

Sometimes a person just cannot win. Take Miley Cyrus, for example. Ever since those MySpace pictures of her nearly naked, with her posed provocatively, and those where she was in the shower - the girl can't catch a break. Even when she did a more mature type of photo spread for Vanity Fair, she caught tremendous heat and was told to act her age (which was15 at the time). Then someone took a picture of an unintentionally exposed breast, so it was her fault that the dress was ill-fitting. Now, she has Asian Americans so annoyed with her latest irresponsible picture that some have demanded an apology, one has filed a lawsuit, and another has written a stinging song condemning her insensitive act.

After the picture in question - Miley Cyrus and some friends sitting around slanting their eyes at the camera - hit the internet, the OCA (Organization of Chinese Americans) immediately branded it "insensitive" and immediately demanded an apology. Cyrus petulantly wrote on her blog that she was sorry if she offended people with her goofy face and her apology, according to MTV, was not accepted by most Asian groups. Then, a couple days later, the 16-year-old apologized in earnest. Again via her blog, Cyrus said on Monday, "I really wanted to stress how sorry I am if the photo of me with my friends offended anyone. I have learned a valuable lesson from this and know that sometimes my actions can be unintentionally hurtful."

It remains to be seen whether this more heartfelt apology will be accepted.

But one woman, Lucy J. Kim, is not accepting her apology, according to TMZ, and has filed a billion-dollar class-action lawsuit against the "Hannah Montana" star, taking it upon herself to speak for the entire Asian Pacific Islander population of Los Angeles - about 1 million people - and demanded roughly $4000 for each of them for Cyrus' remarks. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court and cited that Miley Cyrus "knew or should have known that her image would be publicly disseminated via the media, which Cyrus knew focused on her private life, specifically TMZ."

Comedienne Margaret Cho isn' t feeling too charitable about the picture, either. Writing on her blog, Margaret Cho, whose ancestors are Korean, recited a little poetic ditty that slammed Miley Cyrus for her offensive behavior. The first four lines alone are scathing:

"Miley Cyrus made some chinky eyes

Standing behind an Asian guy

I don't know if this should fly

As if there wasn't enough to despise"

Given as much trouble as she has gotten herself into over her private pictures, one would think that young Miley Cyrus might think twice before taking another picture of herself or allowing a friend to take a picture and posting said picture (or pictures) to the web.

Pictures do say a thousand words, and so do those that view them. And what the viewer sees can often be nothing that was intended by the creator of the picture. That should be the lesson Miley Cyrus takes from this.

Miley Cyrus is only 16 years old. She has a lot to learn, which is rather evident. Unfortunately, she is having to learn it publicly.

******

Sources:

TMZ.com

Margaretcho.com

MTV.com