Antonella Barba Nude / Another Idol Bites The Dust

"Idol" contestant says racy photos were "personal"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Newly eliminated "American Idol" contestant Antonella Barba said on Friday the racy photographs that made her an Internet sensation were taken for personal use only and released without her consent.

Barba, 20, broke her silence about the latest sex scandal to hit U.S. TV's most popular show during a conference call with reporters the day after she and three other contestants were voted off the talent competition.

Ground rules set by producers of Fox television's smash hit prohibit participants from speaking directly to the media while they remain in the contest.
Without being specific, the former college student from New Jersey acknowledged for the first time that at least some of the photos that turned up online in recent weeks, showing her in various stages of undress, were authentic.

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Ousted NJ 'Idol' contestant: Be careful who you trust

POINT PLEASANT, N.J. -- Be careful who you trust.

That's the advice from Antonella Barba, New Jersey's "American Idol" contestant a day after being voted off the show following two weeks of commotion over racy photos posted on the Internet.
"These were photos of my personal life that got exploited without my consent," she said during a conference call Friday with reporters from across the country. "I've learned to be careful who you trust."

Barba was the subject of rampant Internet gossip regarding the photos. Publicists for the top-rated Fox show cut off reporters' questions during the conference call about the pictures and would not allow her to answer many of them, including how she believes they became public.