Vanessa Hudgens says “stupid people” leaked the nude photos of her online last year.

“I think people thought I took it lighter than I really did,” the High School Musical star, 19, said of the incident in a new interview with Good Morning America Radio. “For me, it was really tough because I’m a private person and for something like that to happen, it’s so mean.”

She said the experience was “horrible … it sucked. But thankfully it’s over and it’s in the past.”

How did she survive?

“My fans were amazing because they have stood by my side. They really are my core group,” she said. “My family’s always there for me. I just surround myself with good people and try to think of good things.”

See more photos of topless celebs.

In February, Hudgens — who just dropped her new disc Identified — said she was upfront with her mom about the shots.

“I was just open with her, and she was just so cute,” Hudgens told Seventeen. “She was like, ‘Well, everyone can be naked if they want to.’ My parents are very supportive of me. And they know I’m a teenager, and yes, kids do stupid things sometimes.”

The biggest lesson she learned?

“Nothing is private,” she told the magazine. “Everyone knows everything, and they can find out everything about you… you have to be aware of the people you’re around.”

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Age isn’t just a number for precocious High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens — and, according to a Los Angeles judge today, it’s not an excuse to avoid legal woes.

On Wednesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Tricia Ann Bigelow green-lighted a breach-of-contract suit by Hudgens’ former attorney, Brian Schall, who contends that the almost 19-year-old actress owes him more than $150,000 in back commissions, according to E!.

Schall claims he helped her earn more than $5 million from her songwriting and recording career.

But Hudgens has called Schall’s work “below professional standard.”

She and her attorney had argued that she was just 16 when the contract with Schall was signed and cited California’s Family Code, which says “the contract of a minor is voidable before [age 18] or within a reasonable time afterward.”

But judge Bigelow said she waited too long — until she was 18 years and nine months old — before attempting to void the contract, allowing the case to proceed to either a motion for summary judgment or a jury decision, E! reports.

A hearing is set for January 15.

Hudgens should have no problem footing the bill: Usmagazine.com reported exclusively she scored a “substantial” raise to star in High School Musical 3. The movie will include a prom, she recently told Us.

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Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale will reprise their roles in the upcoming third installment of the hit movie High School Musical, sources close to the negotiation tell Usmagazine.com. A source says that Hudgens will receive a “substantial increase” in pay.

“Vanessa is locked for the movie,” a HSM3 source tells Us. “She is very happy that the deal is done.”

“The contract will be signed within the next week,” a Hudgens source tells Us. “It is almost a done deal.” A close Tisdale source says of the other lead actress’ negotations, “It’s done, done, done.”

Hudgens’ nude photo scandal in September sparked an erroneous report by OK magazine that she would be replaced by either Adrienne Bailon and Sabrina Bryan, both members of the Cheetah Girls. “I am embarrassed over this situation and regret having ever taken those photos,” Hudgens said in a statement. At the time, Disney released a statement saying, “We hope she’s learned a valuable lesson.”

Bryan, 23, dismissed rumors she would replace Hudgens at the KIIS-FM Homecoming Concert on October 27 in Anaheim, California.

“Vanessa is in control of her own career right now,” Bryan told Us. “If she decides not to do High School Musical, I can guarantee you that it will be her deciding that. No one will strip anything away from her.”

The movie, the first in the hit movie series to be a theatrical release, is set to begin shooting in January 2008.

Officially, reps would not confirm the casting news. A Disney spokesperson tells Us: “The cast is still in negotiations and we have no further comment.” Hudgens’ publicist tells Us: “There is no deal yet. They are still in negotiations.”

A source says that Hudgens’ movie (and real-life) boyfriend, Zac Efron, will also return for the sequel, though the actor’s publicist says a deal is not yet signed.

Co-stars Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman are also in final negotiations, according to their publicist.

Source: US Magazine

After a tumultuous couple of months for Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron, which saw them going through a brief breakup after nude pics of ‘Nessa hit the net, OK! can report that it’s finally over for the High School Musical sweethearts. But this time, it’s Vanessa that’s kicked Zac to the curb — and right before his birthday!

A source close to the dreamy-eyed hunk reveals exclusively to OK! that the deed went down late Wednesday evening, only hours before he was to turn 20. Now, just out of his teens, he’s going around telling friends it’s “officially over.”

One friend tells OK! that Zac is worried Vanessa might have already found a new piece of man candy — though there are no real signs of this being true.

Vanessa’s rep is denying the news. However, no word yet from Zac’s camp on the split, which is interesting when you consider the fact that both stars are represented by the same firm.

Source: OK!

Over a month after frisky nude photos of High School Musical starlet Vanessa Hudgens hit the Internet, OK! can exclusively report that Disney has made up its mind about what to do next and that the 18-year-old actress will not be asked to board the boat for the third HSM film.

“Disney finally decided that they don’t want her back,” an insider reveals to OK!. “They feel that as long as Zac Efron is in the movie, all will be fine. He’s the real star — the household name — and, most importantly, he comes without baggage.”

The source also reports that one of the Cheetah Girls — Adrienne Baillon, 23, or possibly 23-year-old Sabrina Bryan — will take Vanessa’s place. “The producers think that after Dancing With the Stars, Sabrina will be more famous than Vanessa.”

Adding fuel to the fire, Adrienne played coy with OK! when confronted with the information. “I love working with Disney,” she said. “I’m trying to convince Disney to let the whole Disney circle of stars in. I’m just trying to convince Disney to let your Zac and Codys and your Brenda Strongs join High School Musical. We all come in and invade their high school; that would be pretty hot. Put us all together in a feature film!”

Interesting thought — but does “us all” include Vanessa?

Source: OK!

Last week, when OKmagazine.com first reported the unfortunate news that High School Musical co-stars and offscreen sweethearts Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens had gone their separate ways (click HERE for original story), the reasons behind the split were still vague. But now, after much investigation, OK! can report who did the dumping — and why.

“Zac ended it,” an insider close to the pair reveals exclusively to OK!. And the reason? Not shockingly, the 19-year-old actor wasn’t too happy when nude pics of his barely legal gal pal started popping up all over the internet.

But this isn’t the first time Zac’s turned his back on the gorgeous brunette. For all the gory details about their roller coaster relationship, and why friends think this isn’t the last time they’ll split, check out the new issue of OK! — on sale everywhere Thursday.

Source: OK!

High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens is being sued for $150,000.

In the lawsuit, filed Monday in Los Angeles, her former attorney, Brian Schall, claims the 18-year-old actress owes him two years’ worth of unpaid lawyer fees, the Associated Press reports.

Schall says Hudgens signed contracts agreeing to pay him 5 percent of her earnings while serving as her representive for a period that started in October 2005. He calculates she owes him a balance of $150,000 from the $5 million she has earned since then, according to the suit.

This is the latest blow for Hudgens, who’s been making headlines after racy photos of the actress hit the Internet earlier this month.

A message left with Hudgens’s rep was not immediately returned.

Source: People

Sources close to High School Musical co-stars, and offscreen sweethearts, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, tell OK! that the adorable couple have officially gone their separate ways.

According to the source, while Zac was away in Europe promoting Hairspray, Vanessa was at a Hollywood Hills party, where eyewitnesses say she was “all over” her older, not-Zac date. And when someone dared to ask about Zac, Vanessa “threw a fit and said ‘don’t mention his name!’ ”

After his return home to L.A., the pair were spotted Sunday night driving together in Zac’s car, though the mood looked anything but festive.

This is only the latest bad news surrounding the adorable co-stars. Nude pictures of Vanessa recently surfaced on the Internet, causing her to cancel an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno last week, and shedding some doubt on her future with Disney’s mammoth High School Musical franchise.

A rep for Vanessa says the story is not true.

Source: OK!

Watch out, Zac Efron – Vanessa Hudgens has a secret crush on Matt Damon.

Hudgens, 18, deflected questions about her on- and off-screen romance with High School Musical costar Efron, 19, on The Tyra Banks Show Monday by admitting she “loves” the older screen star (Damon is 36).

“I was 14 years old and I met him,” Hudgens said of the Bourne leading man. “I completely freaked out. Like, I did to him what my fans do to me. I was like, ‘Ohmigosh, I love you so much, can I have your autograph?’ ”

Completely avoided during the TV interview, which was taped last month before the scandal broke, was any mention of Hudgens’s risqué-photos that were circulated on the Internet and for which the young star apologized to her fans. (It is also believed she canceled a scheduled appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno last Thursday on account of the scandal.)

Yet Banks was able to get the notoriously tight-lipped singer and self-proclaimed “hopeless romantic” to open up a bit about her personal life, asking Hudgens: “So when you [and Efron] are singing the songs ‘I Love You’ and stuff, you guys were falling in love on set?”

“I guess!” Hudgens replied with a giggle. “It’s fun to work with him. He’s really sweet, and singing all of songs is always a blast.”

She was also quick to add, “I’m very low-key. I keep my personal life to my self.”

What she wouldn’t clearly respond to was Banks’s direct question of, “Is Zac Efron a good kisser off-screen?”

Replied Hudgens, “Mmmmmmm” – which prompted Banks to egg her on by saying, “Oh, it’s that good? Mmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Source: People

Still dealing with the nude-photo fallout, Vanessa Hudgens canceled her appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Thursday.

Producers confirmed that the High School Musical star, 18, had been booked and that they were rescheduling.

No reason was given for her cancellation, and a rep for the actress did not respond to a request for comment. But her no-show comes after naked pictures of Hudgens hit the Internet last week. She has since apologized to her fans and says she is “embarrassed over this situation.”

This week, Hudgens was given a boost when she received a vote of confidence from the head of a clothing line that uses her as a spokeswoman.

“More power to her,” Marc Ecko, founder and chief creative officer of Marc Ecko Enterprises, tells PEOPLE. “She made a mistake and has apologized for it. I’m just glad no one’s leaked the pictures of me in all of my naked glory.”

Hudgens stars in the fall and holiday 2007 and spring 2008 ad campaigns for Red by Marc Ecko, a contemporary young women’s apparel and footwear collection.

Hudgens is the second young actress recently to cancel a Tonight Show appearance. In July, Lindsay Lohan also bowed out of the program after her DUI arrest, and was replaced by comedian Rob Scheider – who showed up dressed in drag as Lohan.

Source: People