The latest trendy excuse floating through the manipulative minds of Young Hollywood? Nude photo shoots are totally artistic! As we reported yesterday, Hills sidekick and all-around Mensa candidate Audrina Patridge completed a scheduled spread for Playboy, only to have the story nixed (we've never, ever taken a glimpse at the mag ourselves of course, but our "friends" tell us B-cups aren't a common theme in Hef's airbrushed centerfold ouevre). But after the photos were released in all their Catholic school girl, cowboy hat glory, Patridge is pulling a Dina Lohan and claiming the bonerific shots are totally just art, guys: "I intended them to be artistic and not in any way provocative." After the jump, the wise one's words of advice for all the young wannabe actresses out there hoping their ticket to stardom will come in the form of artsy T&A:

As Audrina explains on her MySpace page, "I was naive, overly trusting of people and inexperienced. I thought that to be a model you had to be comfortable in front of the camera. I'm not ashamed of these photos, but I don't want my young fans to think they have to do what I did." Hold on...Audrina was a model? Five years ago? Girl is 22, meaning these pics were taken when she was a very Amanda Dupre-esque 17 years old. If the photos were indeed intended for Playboy doesn't that mean Hef should have a whopper of a lawsuit on his hands? More importantly, when we first met the Chicklet-toothed Audrina on Season One of The Hills, she was working a desk job at some record company, and last time we tuned in, still was. Could it really be possible that (gasp!) all the fill-in "friends" on Lauren Conrad's heavily staged show are (no! way!) just wannabe actors? We haven't been this shocked and saddened by news from the Hollywood underworld since hearing those glamour shots of Heidi and Spencer were set-ups.

• AUDRINA BLOGS ABOUT HER TOPLESS PHOTO SHOOT [People]
• AUDRINA PATRIDGE MYSPACE PAGE [MySpace]