I'm not particularly offended by Mercedes Corby in a bikini. Are you?

I know I’m a day late to the party on this one but I’m finding it hard to rustle up much outrage about Mercedes Corby’s shoot for Ralph. The former editor in me says “genius” because there’s nothing more interesting to readers or the media than seeing a celebrity out of context.
That’s why Cheryl Kernot in the red feather boa caused such controversy when she appeared in the Women’s Weekly. Can anyone think of some more examples? I know there are some. Maybe Sara-Marie in a bikini in Cosmo?

But not everyone feels the same way. Some are outraged…..

The Telegraph reports:

Having laid low for the past six months following her
multi-million-dollar defamation payout from Seven, the Bali-based
33-year-old made a secret visit to Australia last month with her mum Rosalie Rose after Schapelle told her to do the revealing interview.

“I asked her opinion and she was all for it – as was my husband,” Corby said after returning to Bali. “She just told me I need a tan and just to be confident.”

After saying he was “surprised” at how good she looked, Ralph’s editor Santi Pintado admitted Corby was paid for the shoot, but refused to reveal the amount – or comment on retouching. Corby said she was nervous about stripping down but soon saw the light.

She took the photos to Kerobokan jail last Thursday to show Schapelle, who gave her tick of approval.

Today, former journalist Tracey Spicer – has launched a scathing attack on Mercedes…..

“MEMO Mercedes Corby: put your tits away. Nobody really wants to see them.

Your family’s foibles are taking on the proportions of a Shakespearean tragicomedy.

It’s like watching a car crash; as grotesque and disgusting as the images are, it’s hard to look away.

“Mercedes? More like a Datsun 240B,” scoffed one reader on The Daily Telegraph website. Aside from the tandoori tan, million Rupiah smile and (rrrarrr!)
animal print bikini, the Bogan Barbie’s worst crime is her timing.

It’s just nine days until her sister (and cash cow) becomes eligible for a sentence reduction to celebrate Christmas.

Schapelle, honey, I know you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed,
but do you really think the Indonesian judiciary or President
Yudhoyono, who has the power to issue clemency, would look kindly on
half-naked photos of your sister in a men’s magazine?

Incredibly, the beauty school dropout actually encouraged her sister
to do the shoot. “She told me I need a tan,” Mercedes said, after
seeking counsel from the woman who thought stuffing 4kg of marijuana in
a boogie board bag and smuggling it into Bali was a pretty good idea at
the time.

Then, the plot becomes pure farce. “Hopefully, Schapelle will be out soon and then we’ll do a shoot together,” she said in Ralph magazine.

Ah, your mum must be so proud. Dad would be doing cartwheels in his grave.

Maybe the next magazine spread will involve full frontal nudity and the infamous penis bong. I’d like to see that.

You can read the rest of Tracey Spicer’s spray here .

And you can watch a video of the shoot here.

Is it that bad? That unforgivable? Is it any worse than the Big Brother evictees and other fabulous nobodies who grace the covers of these lads’ mags? And is it really going to effect the Indonesian Government’s view of Schapelle? Really?