Mark Salling Defends 'Glee' Co-Stars Racy 'GQ' Spread

With backlash against GQ's racy Glee cover — featuring Dianna Agron, Corey Monteith and Lea Michele —  continuing to mount, the trio's co-star Mark Salling is speaking out about the scantily clad Gleeksters and coming to their defense.

Mark notes its important to remember his co-stars are all in their 20s before criticizing the provocative shots by celeb photographer Terry Richardson.

OK! NEWS: GLEE GAL DIANNA AGRON APOLOGIZES FOR RACY GQ SPREAD

"Personally, I think it's not a big deal," Mark said in an interview with 102.7 KIIS FM's JoJo Wright, via MTV News. "Lea is 23 years old and has every right to do that. I mean, come on! We're obviously not in high school. It's tongue-in-cheek that we're in high school. People are starving, Dallas Cowboys are losing — there's more important things to worry about in the world."

Dianna also took to her blog, apologizing to anyone offended by the cover, but not regretting her decision to take part in the racy shoot.

"In the land of Madonna, Britney, Miley, Gossip Girl, other public figures and shows that have pushed the envelope and challenged the levels of comfort in their viewers and fans ... we are not the first," she wrote. "Now, in perpetuating the type of images that evoke these kind of emotions, I am sorry. If you are hurt or these photos make you uncomfortable, it was never our intention."

Yesterday, the Parents Television Council released a statement denouncing the photos, by celeb photographer Terry Richardson, as inappropriate and disturbing.

“It is disturbing that GQ, which is explicitly written for adult men, is sexualizing the actresses who play high school-aged characters on ‘Glee’ in this way. It borders on pedophilia. Sadly, this is just the latest example of the overt sexualization of young girls in entertainment,” PTC President Tim Winter said.

GQ also took the time to defend the cover.

“The Parents Television Council must not be watching much TV these days and should learn to divide reality from fantasy,” Jim Nelson, editor-in-chief of GQ, said in a statement defending his cover. “As often happens in Hollywood, these ‘kids’ are in their twenties. Cory Montieth’s almost 30! I think they’re old enough to do what they want.”