I have reported previously that sex videos of celebrities, even faked ones, such as the Galilea Montijo Video Hoax, have been a help to the career of those so exposed. Although I have no belief that these photos were revealed intentionally, it well may make a career for Vanessa Hudgens as well as make the High School Musical franchise even more profitable for Disney:

Motley Fool,
Disney's High School Nudie Musical

Exposure is usually a good thing for a franchise. And few will argue that High School Musical hasn't been blessed with exposure. Disney's original made-for-Disney Channel flick was a sleeper sensation last year. Last month's debut of High School Musical 2 caught no one by surprise, becoming the summer's most watched cable program, with 17 million viewers. It also became the cornerstone of the mighty Wal-Mart's back-to-school promotion.

However, Disney now has to deal with the kind of exposure that it didn't want to see. A snapshot of a naked Vanessa Hudgens -- one of the show's six young stars -- is making the rounds in cyberspace.
...
Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp have bared more than their souls in earlier flicks, yet Disney hasn't had a problem with casting both in the Pirates of the Caribbean blockbuster films. So it would be a shock to see Hudgens given the boot, even if the very nature of injecting new talent into a high school-themed franchise will eventually mean unearthing new stars.

On Friday, a Disney Channel spokesperson released this statement: "Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment. We hope she's learned a valuable lesson."

One only has to recall Vanessa Williams resigned her crown as the first African-American Miss America over sexy photos of herself but rebounded as a Grammy Award-nominated, Emmy Award-nominated, and Tony Award-nominated American R&B/pop/theatrical singer and actress.

It will be interesting to see how this bares out for Vanessa Hudgens.

Others blogging:

ABC News,
Hudgens Photo: Career Wrecker or Enhancer?

The actress admitted last week to posing nude in a photograph, apologized and is now hoping she didn't just ruin her chances to continue with the multimillion-dollar "High School Musical" franchise. It's not the slip-up that has Hollywood talking, it's the way the 18-year-old handled it that's earning her praises and may have just catapulted her career to the next level.

Mia's Meddlings,
Vanessa Hudgens Nude Pic

Many people say Vanessa did this to prove that Zac Efron is not gay but a better way would be a nice sex tape. Pictures are lame and cheap and make you look super trashy!

Photo Credit: Popcrunch

Buddytv,
High School Musical: Vanessa Hudgens Nude Picture Aftermath

Should anybody care about Vanessa Hudgens' nude picture?

Yes, but only if you're a teenage boy with an Internet connection. I can't imagine how happy this picture made a nation of teenage male High School Musical fans. Besides that, though, it's not a situation that anyone should be upset over, let alone outraged. As some of our commentors pointed out last week, America has an incredibly conservative approach to nudity. If this happened anywhere in Europe (and it does all the time) no one would bat an eye. Because it happened here, however, parents are upset, TV viewers assume that Hudgens will be fired from High School Musical 3, and defenders of Hudgens' purity are devastated. Give everyone a couple of weeks and it will all be a non-issue.

the Popcrunch Show,
Vanessa Hudgens Nude ‘Girls Gone Wild’ $500,000 Contract

‘Girls Gone Wild’ founder Joe Francis has offered naked "High School Musical” star Vanessa Hudgens $500,000 to "join the GGW brand and lifestyle.”