Hilary Duff Protecting Her Dignity

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Hilary Duff’s protection order against her stalking fan Maksim Myaskovskiy proved useful when he allegedly threatened to hurt Duff at an event she planned to attend.  Arrested on November 3 last year, just last week the 18-year-old Russian immigrant plead no contest and was sentenced to 117 days in jail plus five years’ probation.

Duff sought the protection order with her family on October 12, claiming he attempted to contact her both at her mother’s home and in the neighborhood of her (now ex-)boyfriend, Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden.  The “no contest” response from Myaskovskiy was a shift from his previous claim of “not guilty.”

All this sets the stage for her new album coming out this April, “Dignity.” Her official site calls the album “very personal to her.” The single “With Love” was released recently to follow the single “Playing With Fire.” It’s been alleged that the name of the album comes from the last song’s title, “Where’s Your Dignity?” Also this year, she’s slated to star in “Brand Hauser” with John Cusack, and she and her sister are providing voices in “Foodfight!” an animated comedy.

Like her clothes line, which she began so teen girls could have fashionable clothing their families could afford, Duff debuted her fragrance “With Love” this past fall.  She allegedly loved the fragrance development process enough that she’d like to drop everything to be a perfumer when she’s older.

Duff may be growing up, but she’s not abandoning her tweenage fans.  Considering herself a role model for teens, she intentionally avoids overly-sexy roles in her acting despite others her age making headlines from them.  She reminds her fans that their families love them even when they don’t fit in, and has been quoted as giving girls one piece of advice in particular: “Be smart about who you surround yourself with.”