'Glee' Star 'Sorry' About Provocative GQ Photo Shoot

'Glee' Star 'Sorry' About Provocative GQ Photo Shoot.

GQ magazine has catalyzed some controversy by releasing photos from its upcoming November 2010 issue featuring scantily clad cast members of Fox's musical dramedy "Glee." Almost immediately, the Parents Television Council, a conservative media watchdog group (which, incidentally, objects to "Glee" as a general rule) denounced the photos.

Although Dianna Agron (who plays popular-girl cheerleader Quinn), Cory Monteith (who plays the star quarterback Finn) and Lea Michele (who plays squeaky clean singing prodigy Rachel) are in their mid-twenties, because they are known for playing high school-aged characters, the PTC says the racy shoot "borders on pedophilia."

In response to the controversy, on Wednesday night Agron voiced some regret that the magazine photos have caused some fans to be "hurt" and "uncomfortable." She wrote: "For GQ, they asked us to play very heightened versions of our school characters. A 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' version. At the time, it wasn't my favorite idea, but I did not walk away."

[Photos: The controversial cover and more photos of the cast]

The actress also expressed her apologies for "perpetuating the type of images that evoke these kind of emotions," but pointed out that "in the land of Madonna, Britney, Miley, Gossip Girl, other public figures and shows that have pushed the envelope and challenged the levels of comfort in their viewers and fans...we are not the first." (Incidentally, many of those stars have also been photographed by provocateur Terry Richardson, who shot the GQ spread.)

GQ has come out in defense of the photos, which feature the TV stars entwined in racy embraces and, occasionally, showing their underclothes: "The Parents Television Council must not be watching much TV these days and should learn to divide reality from fantasy. As often happens in Hollywood, these 'kids' are in their twenties. Cory Montieth's [sic] almost 30! I think they're old enough to do what they want."

[Related: Parent Television Council slams racy Miley Cyrus video]

The tradition of putting the stars of teen dramas in provocative photo shoots stretches all the way back to the Fox forebear "Beverly Hills, 90210." While not exactly chaste, the most popular "Beverly Hills" shot, which shows the cast laying together in a big pile, their wholesome grins and modest clothing belie the notion that anything untoward could happen on as they weave a basket of bodies.

What isn't traditional, however, is the PTC so publicly decrying such shoots. In more recent years the flashpoint for controversial — and arguably infantilizing — photos has been Rolling Stone, which has shot the stars of "The Hills" in their underpants, the stars of "Gossip Girl" sharing an ice cream cone and the stars of "Glee," dressed chastely but for Michele, whose skirt flips up to flash the camera her underwear. It's only this most recent shoot of youthful TV stars, though, that has drawn such public uproar from the PTC.

But even Rolling Stone can't top The CW's own marketing department in terms of pushing the envelope of taste. "Gossip Girl" embraced its most breathlessly offended critics by excerpting their comments in a billboard campaign. And as for this "Vampire Diaries" promo image, I thought I was pretty jaded, but it left me clutching my pearls — the girl is in high school and the guys are supposed to be very old (they're vampires, after all).

[Photos: The cast dresses up for the show]

The PTC has a mandate to fulfill, of course, but by protesting GQ, they could be stoking interest in the issue far beyond where it would be otherwise. When the controversial issue goes on sale next Tuesday, the scene will be reminiscent of GQ circa February 2008, when its scantily clad model was Rachel Bilson, former star of Fox's teen drama "The O.C."