Vanessa Hudgens hits out at paparazzi for ‘disrespecting privacy’ hours after birth of newborn baby

‘High School Musical’ star said privacy was exploited when she was photographed leaving hospital with newborn

Vanessa Hudgens has issued a bittersweet message announcing the birth of her newborn baby.

The High School Musical and Princess Switch actor has announced the happy news that she and her husband, Cole Tucker, have welcomed their first child together, but she acknowledged that she wasn’t the first person to reveal the news.

In a post shared on Instagram, she said her family’s privacy was “disrespected” by paparazzi photographers who snapped pictures of her and her family leaving the hospital just hours after the baby’s birth.

“We’re disappointed that our family’s privacy was disrespected and exploited during this very special time due to the greed of a long lens camera feeding the media,” she wrote. “Despite all of that, mum, dad and baby are happy and healthy.”

Pictures obtained by several news outlets showed Hudgens in a wheelchair while holding a baby in her arms with her husband, Tucker, standing behind her.

Hudgens criticised the ‘greed of the long lens camera’ (Instagram via @VanessaHudgens)

The actor revealed her pregnancy in March while co-hosting ABC’s Oscars coverage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles while holding her baby bump. The news came just three months after her wedding to the former Colorado Rockies baseball player.

The pair met during the Covid-19 pandemic through a Zoom meditation session hosted by Camp Rock star Joe Jonas in 2020, before making their relationship public on social media. In December 2022, they announced their engagement after two years of dating.

In September 2022, Hudgens spoke about wanting to be a mother in an interview with Nylon magazine, saying that she had grown up with the idea of getting married by the time she was 25.

Hudgens photographed cradling her baby bump in March (Getty Images)

“I always thought I would be married at 25, because that’s when my mom got married, and then when that didn’t happen, I was like: ‘Oh, okay, so we’re just going to shift everything back a bit,’” she said.

“I always thought that around 36, 37 is when I would want to have kids, and that still plays. I don’t feel panicked about it.

Hudgens’s ex-boyfriend and High School Musical co-star from 2005 to 2010, recently reflected on both Hudgens and another High School Musical actor, Ashley Tisdale, both being pregnant at the same time.

Speaking at the premiere for his newest film, A Family Affair, in June, Efron was asked what he thought of both stars becoming mothers.

He explained that he was confident they would both be good parents. “They’re gonna be the best moms ever,” he told Access Hollywood. “Those girls, are you kidding me? We’re gonna have some fun family reunions coming up.”