NEW YORK -- A judge dismissed an attempt to prevent commercial distribution of nude photos of actress Brooke Shields taken when she was 10 and scolded her mother for exploiting her daughter as a teenage temptress.
In his ruling Tuesday, state Supreme Court Justice Edward Greenfield described Teri Shields as being 'maternally protective and exploitive at the same time.'
Mrs. Shields had sought to portray her 16-year-old daughter as 'sexually provocative and exciting while attempting to preserve her innocence,' Greenfield said.
'She cannot have it both ways.'
Mrs. Shields, 47, had filed a $1 million suit on behalf of her daughter, claiming commercial distribution of the photos would cause 'irreparable harm' to Brooke's career and would violate an agreement the photos were to be used only once.
In dismissing the suit, Greenfield criticized Mrs. Shields for the way she has handled her daughter's career.
'While attempting to provide her with the normal life of a high school girl, she has also exposed her to the world of the discos -- with Studio 54, Regines and Xenon being as much a part of her normal diet as her high school homework,' he said.
Greenfield issued a 14-day stay preventing photographer Garry Gross from making commercial use of the photographs while the Shields' lawyer, Sandor Frankel, went ahead with his plans to appeal.
The nude photos of Brooke were taken with the consent of Mrs. Shields in September 1975 for a Playboy Press book entitled 'Sugar and Spice.'
The photos show a nude Brooke leaning back in a bathtub and gazing into a mirror. The Shields were paid $450 for the photo session in 1975. Gross had received $1,000 for the pictures.
Greenfield found there was 'no agreement' regarding restriction on the use of the photographs and also dismissed the Shields' request for $1 million in punitive damages.
Brooke and her mother clutched hands and had tears in their eyes when Greenfield issued his ruling at the end of a four-day, non-jury trial.
'Mrs. Shields is obviously a concerned mother living for her child, but she is also living through her child,' the judge said. 'In pushing forward Brooke's career she has been eager, aggressive, and guilty of mistakes -- one of which has resulted in this lawsuit.
'The embarrassment of Miss Shields at this juncture is poignant and understandable,' Greenfield said. 'Regrettably, the court finds that her personal embarassment and anticipation of the reaction of her friends is not tantamount to irreparable harm.
'This is especially so in view of the nature of the films in which she has appeared, which are suggestive if not explicit in what they reveal.'
Greenfield noted that 5-foot blowups of the pictures involved in the lawsuit had been displayed in a Fifth Avenue shoe salon and were 'exposed to the gaze of thousands of passers-by without causing a stir.'
