Remember when I said of Antonella’s dismissal that “Now we’ll just wait for the inevitable news of Playboy offering?” Well, it looks like the porn purveyors are one step closer to helping that dream come true for young men around the globe.

On Wednesday, Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis extended a public invitation to the comely brunette to join his company, offering her $250,000 to host an upcoming video release from the franchise.
“Antonella Barba is an unbelievably sexy girl who obviously knows how to have a good time,” Francis said.

Francis wasn’t the only entity bidding for Barba’s talents. Adult film purveyor SugarDVD raised the stakes Thursday by offering the Idol hopeful $500,000 to become the company’s celebrity spokesmodel.

“We have set aside money for the right opportunity and we feel like this is it!” SugarDVD CEO Jax said in a statement. “You saw her photos online, she’s smokin’!”
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Though she stopped short of commenting specifically on the various offers that have come her way so far, Barba said she planned to stick around Los Angeles for a couple of weeks while weighing her options.

Joking aside, I would have guessed that she would dismiss the offers on principle--the principle that says a young woman who wants to have a real singing career doesn’t appear in Girls Gone Wild videos. But, then, half a million dollars is a whole lot of money and maybe the realization that her talents aren’t as impressive as her ambitions will lead her to take the cash.

Which could lead to a whole, big conversation about pornography, self respect, dignity, and finding a sense of personal value that resides in a more holistic sense of self that goes beyond the mere physical and encompasses spiritual and intellectual potentials. But that might break the light mood.

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