CNN Headline News is sticking by its decision to hire former NYPD Blue actress Andrea Thompson as a news anchor, even though nude photos of Thompson are floating around the Internet, AP reports.
A story about the photos also made the front page of the New York Post on Friday. The photos, available on several Internet sites, were still shots of Thompson taken from a 1986 Italian film Manhattan Gigolo and separate photos from Black and White magazine.
The Atlanta-based cable network issued a statement supporting the 41-year-old anchor, who worked as a reporter and fill-in anchor at KRQE-TV in Albuquerque, N.M. for less than a year before CNN called. ''We accept Andrea Thompson's explanation regarding the photos in question,'' CNN said.
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Thompson, who played Detective Jill Kirkendall on NYPD Blue until leaving in 1999 and switching to a journalism career, defended the pictures. ''I did pose for Black and White magazine, a prestigious, artistic publication, several years ago,'' Thompson said. ''I did this as a piece of art and make no apologies for the creative decisions I've made as an artist in my 20-year career.''
