Dear Vanessa,

Can I just say first that you totally rocked on the show with Alexa Chung? You looked simply stunning and your poise is remarkable. We loved it! And watched it, again and again.

Apparently, your fans were not the only ones watching. Some other people were watching as well. They don’t really matter so we won’t bother with names. These people though, have been watching you for a long long time.

They watched you audition and win a role in a little TV movie. They watched it explode. They watched you travel around the world. They saw your face each time they turned on their TV. They saw your face on merchandise each time they entered the mall. They watched you smile and laugh and giggle. And they stewed, and churned, and developed ulcers from bitterness.

But then, before they could choke on their own bile, they remembered they had access to a set of private pictures you took before fame hit. Then they planned, and watched, and gloated, and sent a sound bite to National Ledger and just after the HSM 2 premiere, in the midst of promo, when you were on a high point in your career, they released one picture and let National Ledger know there were more.

Then they watched and gloated and waited for you to fade to nothing. Oh no! What happened? You didn’t fade! You took responsibility and weathered it, and grew stronger, and more poised, and more beautiful. And your face didn’t disappear, it was still on the screens, and the merchandise, and the magazine covers, with that smile, oh that smile. And they were left with pain, the pain of a failed effort.

So they waited. Again. And watched. Watched you premiere HSM 3, watched it take the world box office, watched you captured by the talented camera of Annie L, watched you shimmer at the Golden Globes, watched you perform at the Oscars, watched you land a role in Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch and headline CBSfilms’ Beastly, watched your beauty blossom and mature and glow. And they stewed and churned and brooded. And their ulcers became unbearable. How dare you attempt to build a career beyond HSM! You were supposed to fade away!!!

So they planned, and watched, and stewed. With perfect timing, right in the midst of another promo, around another premiere, at a high point in your career, they released the other private pictures, hoping, hoping ever so earnestly that these work and make you fade away. The poor things.

My dear, I can’t even begin to imagine how hard this is for you because you’ve worked really hard and have had to overcome a lot of obstacles to get to where you are. However, we need you to do something for us. Please, hold your head up high, and straighten your shoulders, and be strong. You are not alone. We all stand with you, because we all are flawed. More importantly, someone much greater, and much more gracious, is standing with you as well, and watching over you. You are blessed. And your personality radiates with their blessing. No, you are not to be pitied at all.

We reserve our pity for the poor things who have sat on private pictures of a 17 year old for years, perving and brooding and plotting and stewing and dying slowly. Imagine the pain of such a life, and the deformity of such a mind, and the barrenness of such a heart, and feel deep pity for them.

You will continue to bloom and blossom and learn and grow, because good always triumphs over evil. And we will stand with you all the way, watching, and supporting, and loving you always, and unconditionally.

Your fans.

Looking forward to see you dressed to kill on Jimmy Kimmel. And just because…