Source: Vanessa Hudgens sent nude photo to Drake Bell

[sharon_b]

Following the appearance on the Web of a nude photo of Vanessa Hudgens, a source close to the situation tells PEOPLE that the High School Musical actress once sent risqué photos of herself to Nickelodeon star Drake Bell.

Hudgens had emailed photos to the Drake and Josh actor a couple of years ago, before she was famous, the source says.

Bell's rep, Jill Fritzo, tells PEOPLE of the images that began hitting blogs on Thursday: "Drake says he never received those photos."

Hudgens, 18, appeared in a 2006 episode of Bell's Nickelodeon show as his character's girlfriend. In real life, Hudgens is dating her High School Musical costar Zac Efron, and the two are in Australia at the moment, where he is promoting Hairspray.

In a statement Friday, Hudgens apologized for the pictures and says she is "embarrassed over the situation and regret[s] having ever taken these photos."

The pictures, including one nude photo, first surfaced on the Web Thursday, prompting her rep to issue a statement saying that the shot "was taken privately. It is a personal matter and it is unfortunate that this has become public."

The Disney Channel has said it is continuing negotiations with the High School Musical cast, including Hudgens, for a third installment of the movie series, according to the Chicago Tribune. "Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment," Disney said in a statement. "We hope she's learned a valuable lesson."

http://www.people.com/people/article...055444,00.html

[Lily]

Famewhore.

[carrie2008]

^^Definitely. I couldn't agree more.

[VenusInFauxFurs]

Such a silly thing to do really.

[JelliJules]

what a little tramp. so she was underage when she took these pictures and then sent them to some guy---and on top of that, they weren't dating. (Even at 16, I don't care if you're "dating" you don't pose like a playboy model and take pictures of your naked pubescent body).

Seem that little miss hudgens is quite an easy chick. This makes me sick because I don't see much in the media about how this girl is a teenager and these pictures were taken when she was only 16---what kind of behavior does this condone? all of these tweens obsessed with high school musical-----good lesson to teach them. It's really quite gross.

[mintjelly]

Ugh. Desperate much?

[sweet2071]

Such a silly thing to do really.

I agree...I can't imagine what is going through these young girls' minds. But we have a culture that supports this behavior. Being sexy and cheap is way more important than having a brain or talent in this wacked out world. Really quite depressing.

Britney is a perfect example. She has been "selling her sh*t" since she was 16 and now she is so trashed out that nobody will buy it. Hmmm...maybe that is a good thing to help teach the young ones to leave a little to the imagination. I wish the same type of global rejection would happen to Paris Hilton.

[sippingthrustraw]

at the same time .. she is a young girl... cut her a little slack.. we have all made mistakes because of some boy ... especially at that age... maybe it will be a nice warning to all the little girls out there to never take nude pics and give them to a guy .. dumb dumb dumb!!!

[Tater Tot]

I still can't believe she admitted those pics were real. She could have totally denied it and it would have went away. It just goes to show that she wants the attention. Total famewhore.

[KrisNine]

Ewww, so if she sent these pictures a few years ago, that means she's what....15 or something in the pics???

[southernbelle]

I didn't realize there were more photos than just that one full-frontal. When I was 15, I never would have DREAMED of sending photos like that to any guy- even a serious boyfriend. They just scream, "I'm trash and I desperately want attention!"

I mentioned this in another thread, but the thing that really bothers me about it is the fact that she's always bragging about what a good kid she is. If she truly felt "embarrassed" about this, she would never have admitted that the photos were authentic.

I like the way she tries to shift the blame to Drake Bell. I highly doubt he released these. He wouldn't have waited 3 years to do it. My theory is that Vanessa released the photos herself in an attempt to get attention and to convince everyone her relationship with her "straight" boyfriend was real- thinking Zac would appreciate the speculation that they were taken for him. I think he was unaware of this and was not happy about it because he realizes their fanbase consists primarily of 7-14 year old girls. He told her that she better make it clear he was not involved in this- which is why she started pointing fingers at some obscure Nickelodeon star that she worked with 3 years ago. In fact, I wonder if Zac will "dump" her to protect his image and totally disaffiliate himself from this whole thing.