A close friend of "American Idol" semi-finalist Antonella Barba
says that the aspiring singer is not the subject of some
graphically sexual pictures purported to be of her that were posted
on the Internet last week.
The pictures include one of four women posing topless at the beach,
their hands covering their breasts, and others of a woman engaged
in a sexual act. The postings were anonymous.
Barba´s best friend, Amanda Coluccio of Holmdel, with whom she
auditioned and won a trip to Hollywood for the second round before
being eliminated, told The Star-Ledger of Newark that the less
graphic photos are of Barba, but denied she is pictured in the
pornographic ones.
"The really bad ones aren´t her. I´ve studied them," Coluccio told
The Star-Ledger for Monday´s newspapers. "It´s not her nose. She´s
never had (acrylic nail) tips (like the woman in the photo) in her
life. She´s the least slutty person I know."
Coluccio did not return phone messages from The Associated Press
left at her home.
Meanwhile, here in the 20-year-old´s hometown, where signs abound
wishing her good luck, friends and strangers alike are supporting
Barba, saving their condemnation for whomever posted the pictures
online.
The fallout has many young people here thinking twice about posing
for photos they thought were just to be shared among friends.
"It´s the way this town is: Everybody knows everything about their
friends," said Mark Dillon, 17. "At least half the people in this
town have pictures of their friends on the toilet. I´ve personally
seen at least 20. It´s only because she´s on TV that they´re
online."
Adam Bobertz, also 17, said what happened to Barba could happen to
anyone.
"Everyone in this town has done something stupid at one time or
another," he said.
Throughout Point Pleasant, a Jersey shore town of 18,177 about 60
miles north of Atlantic City, signs supporting Barba are many. They
went up before the photos surfaced, and remain there, a symbol of
her hometown´s disdain for the commotion surrounding her.
Jacqui Reid, a florist whose daughter took violin lessons from
Barba, said making the photos public was a gross invasion of
privacy, but one that has become a fact of life in the digital
age.
"Everyone has incriminating photos of one sort or another, and you
never know when it´s going to turn around and bite you on the
you-know-what," she said. "It´s a shame you can´t just live your
life and not have to worry about something like this becoming
public.
"She´s this attractive, talented girl who´s also intelligent and
knows where she wants to go," Reid said. "I consider her a role
model for my daughter."
Even votefortheworst.com, a Web site that picks what it considers
the worst American Idol contestants, said the Barba saga is
sobering for young people.
"It´s a real wake-up call for a lot of people," said Dave Della
Terza of Chicago, who runs the site. "With the advent of MySpace
and Facebook, people put photos up on the Internet and have to
realize that someone you don´t even know can grab these photos that
you think are only going to be seen by your friends, and have them
on every Web site in the world within 10 minutes."
Della Terza´s site posted photos Monday that he claims confirms the
woman in the sex photo is not Barba. Close-ups of the right ear of
the woman in the sex photo, and a photo known to be of Barba, show
differently shaped ears.
Her parents, Vincenzo and Valerie Barba, did not immediately
respond to messages left on their answering machine and a letter
left at their front door. A Fox publicist said the network would
have no comment on the situation, and would not make any of the
contestants available for interviews.
The photos capped a stressful week for Barba, who until recently
had been studying architecture at Catholic University in
Washington, D.C. Her first performance on which viewers could vote,
a rendition of Aerosmith´s "I Don´t Want To Miss A Thing," was
roundly panned by the judges.
Yet she made it through to the second round, and is due to perform
Wednesday night with the nine other remaining female
contestants.