The tabloids are contradicting themselves this week over Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens’ relationship. Both The National Enquirer and Star have the same basic premise: Zac is eager to shed his vanilla Disney image, and he’s seeking various remedies to try to – how do the kids say it? – “sack up”. The Enquirer has Zac’s remedy as trying to talk Vanessa into shedding her vanilla image (amongst other things) with Zac, so they can go on to movie stardom together. Zac wants Vanessa to do some nudity in films and magazines so she won’t seem so goody-goody. The Enquirer has Zac sounding kind of like a pimp (and not in a good way, but in an icky “ho better recognize” way):

Zac Efron is encouraging girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens to take it ALL off!

[Zac] supports Vanessa’s effort to shed her goody-goody image – and her clothes – in a “tasteful” spread for a men’s magazine or a more mature film role, say sources.

[Friends] says she is seriously considering baring it all.

“Zac is making the leap to A-list actor, and he wants Vanessa to go along with him,” said the friend.

“[Zac] told a pal, if she has to bare more of her body in the process [of doing an edgy film], then she shouldn’t be afraid of doing that.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, June 1 2009]

Is Vanessa really that dumb? That she could talked into doing nudity just because Zac “Not Sacked Up Yet” Efron tells her to? Perhaps a better question would be – just how bad is Zac’s advice? In the grand scheme of things, it’s probably not that bad. The thing is, Vanessa has already partially shed her good girl image, and substantially raised her profile, with nude photos that were “leaked.” She could probably do it again to some extent with an “artsy” photo spread in a magazine.

And now for Star’s take. They have Zac on the cusp of dumping Vanessa because he thinks it will be better for his image and his career. There’s no changing Vanessa, in this version, so Zac is just taking his stuff and leaving:

[After] three years together, Zac Efron is thinking seriously of moving on from girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens – because he thinks that being tied down to his Disney costar at just 21 is holding back his career!

“Zac’s been told that to go from a teen idol to a major movie star, he has to distance himself from his HSM image,” a source tells Star. “One big thing that means is no more Vanessa. When people see them together, they think of their characters.”

It’s not surprising for Zac – who said he’ll never marry – would choose his career over his romance with Vanessa, 20, since he’s tried to put the breaks on their juggernaut of a relationship before.

“Last year when they were both house-hunting, Vanessa insisted that they share a home, but he refused,” says the source. “It also isn’t good for Vanessa that Zac’s mom, Starla, thinks he’s too young to get so serious with her.”

“He’s reconsidering his public image. No more musicals is another step – that’s why he dropped out of the Footloose remake,” says the source.

This summer, “they’ll be spending even more time apart,” says the source. In July, Zac begins shooting the drama The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, which will likely film in New England. And he feels that’s the right time to make a clean break – though it won’t be easy, the source adds. “Zac does still love Vanessa. He’s agonizing about this!”

[From Star magazine, print edition, June 1 2009]

I sort of believe both reports. Zac and Vanessa have the sexual chemistry of wet noodles, so it doesn’t seem like they would stay together for any other reason other than “Disney told us to”. And I totally believe Zac is hellbent on becoming the next great movie star or whatever. The kid probably wants to be the next Tom Cruise. Will Vanessa really hamper his chances? Not if she becomes the next big starlet, and poses shirtless and pantless on Maxim. Then, all of a sudden, Vanessa will be Zac’s biggest asset, right?

Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron are shown outside Beso restaurant on 3/28/09 and at the premiere of Watchmen on 3/2/09. Credit: Juan Rico/Fame Pictures