Nine months after a photo leaked online of pop princess Miley Cyrus and friends pulling back their eyelids, an official ruling has been reached over the subsequent lawsuit.

In February, online sites such as GossipTeen and PopCrunch posted a photo that showed the then 16-year-old Disney star and her boyfriend pulling back their eyelids, supposedly to make them appear Asian. Just days after the photo leaked, a Los Angeles woman, Lucie J. Kim, filed a class-action lawsuit against Cyrus, naming the city’s entire Asian Pacific Islander population as co-plaintiffs.

However, on Friday, a Los Angeles judge threw out the case, saying that the photo did not break any laws, though it may have been offensive.

In the lawsuit, Kim claimed that the one-million Asian Pacific Islanders in the city are entitled to civil rights damages of $4,000 per person, or a total of $4 billion. Her complaint accused Cyrus of violating a statute that prohibits businesses from discriminating against minorities.

According to the AFP, Kim claimed that Cyrus “should have known that her image would be publicly disseminated via the media, which focuses on her private life.”

Kim’s lawyer argued that as a public figure, Cyrus should have known that the private photo could have consequences for the Asian American community. According to E! Online, attorney Henry M. Lee said the photo deprived them of “courtesy and respect.”

“Every time she sells herself she engages in a business transaction…this image that she is this positive role model for children,” he said in court.

After the photo scandal, Cyrus issued a half-hearted apology on her fan site, MileyWorld.

“I’ve also been told there are some people upset about some pictures taken of me with friends making goofy faces! Well, I’m sorry if those people looked at those pics and took them wrong and out of context!” MTV reported.

However, Asian American organizations like the OCA didn’t accept the apology, saying that it was “not enough” and demanded a “fuller apology.”

MTV reported that she later issued a more complete apology, saying, “I have learned a valuable lesson from this and know that sometimes my actions can be unintentionally hurtful.”

Cyrus, who is known as the squeaky-clean Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel, has sparked some controversy recently, including posing for a semi-nude Vanity Fair cover in June, and dancing with a stripper pole at the Teen Choice Awards in August. Last month, AOL’s pop culture blog ranked her as the worst celebrity influence of 2009.

After the court’s ruling, gossip site TMZ is reporting that Kim is considering filing an appeal.

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Chip C has written 5729 post on Chip and Co..

Chip is owner of and webmaster of Chip and Co - Your source for Disney News and Views. He focuses on writing Disney Park News, Planning Tips, Giveaways, TV and Movie News. When he isn't blogging about Disney he is planning his next trip to Walt Disney World.

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