NEW YORK: Miley Cyrus is responding to criticism that she mocked Asians in a photograph of the teen star stretching the corners of her eyes. “In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity!” Cyrus wrote on February 5 in a posting on her official Web site. “I was simply making a goofy face. When did that become newsworthy? It seems someone is trying to make something out of nothing to me.”

The photo shows the Hannah Montana star and five friends squinting their eyes into a slanted expression. An Asian man sits next to Cyrus, not participating in the group pose.

The OCA, a group dedicated to advancing the social, political and economic well being of Asian Pacific Americans, criticised the 16-year-old star for setting “a terrible example for her many young fans” by “mocking and denigrating individuals of Asian descent.”

“Well, (I’m) sorry if those people looked at those pics and took them wrong and out of context!” Cyrus wrote. “I definitely feel like the press is trying to make me out as the new `BAD GIRL’!” she wrote. “I feel like now that Britney is back on top of her game again, they need someone to pick on! Lucky me!”