Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2010
Miley Cyrus and the Million-Person Apology
When teen pop star Miley Cyrus took a photo with friends in early 2009 making slanted eyes, at least one person took offense. The photo led Los Angeles woman Lucie J. Kim to file a $4 billion lawsuit, saying it violated the civil rights of Asian Pacific Islanders. While Cyrus maintained that she was "simply making a goofy face" and that the photo was taken "out of context," Kim claimed that each of the Asian Pacific Islanders in L.A. County — about 1 million — deserved at least $4K each because of the harm they suffered simply from seeing the photo. Cyrus, then 16, repeatedly apologized, saying, "[I] really want to stress how sorry I am if the photo of me with my friends offended anyone." Nine months later, the case was dismissed.