'Musical' actress apologizes

(fred prouser/REUTERS/file)

Brainy Gabriella of "High School Musical" would no doubt blush at the idea that a nude picture of young actress Vanessa Hudgens was circulating on the Internet. The problem for the Walt Disney Co. is that Hudgens plays Gabriella. Hudgens's publicist confirmed yesterday that the photograph is indeed the 18-year-old star of Disney Channel's wildly successful "High School Musical" franchise. It shows a smiling Hudgens posing naked with a red curtain behind her. "This was a photo which was taken privately," said Jill Fritzo, Hudgens's publicist. "It is a personal matter, and it is unfortunate that this has become public." Hudgens apologized in a statement yesterday: "I want to apologize to my fans, whose support and trust means the world to me. I am embarrassed over this situation and regret having ever taken these photos." Disney Channel spokeswoman Patti McTeague said, "Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment. We hope she's learned a valuable lesson." (AP)

Phil Spector's lawyer closed her case in the music producer's murder trial yesterday by entreating jurors not to become "vigilantes," not to judge him on his appearance or by stories of women who dated him - and to find him innocent of killing actress Lana Clarkson. "We don't convict people in this country because we don't like them, because we don't like their hair or their clothes," said Linda Kenney-Baden. The prosecution planned a rebuttal, after which Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler was to instruct the jurors and turn the case over to them for deliberations. He said that might not happen until Monday. (AP)

Rapper Foxy Brown was sentenced to one year in jail yesterday for violating probation stemming from a fight with two manicurists in a New York City salon. Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson sentenced the rapper at a probation hearing for Brown, 28. "I'm not going to give you any more chances," the judge told Brown. "I hope you turn your life around and never again have to stand in a court of law." Brown was also indicted in Brooklyn on charges that she smacked a neighbor with a cellphone. Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, was on three years probation for assaulting manicurists at a Manhattan nail salon in August 2004. "I'm willing to do whatever I need to do to change," Brown told the judge. (AP)

Jenna Fischer of "The Office" and her husband, filmmaker James Gunn, have separated after six years of marriage. "We are sorry for any pain this causes family and friends," the pair said in a statement on Gunn's MySpace page. "The enthusiasm we have for each other's lives, spirits and careers is real - we have been each other's cheerleader and friend during the past six years and continue to be so now and in the future." (AP)