Miley Cyrus Feels She Was ‘Harshly Judged’ In The Past

Author Laila Abuelhawa

May 19th, 2023 1:07 PM

Miley Cyrus refuses to blame herself for any of the many controversies that followed her career. In a new interview with British Vogue, she reflected on her career. She discussed the moments in her career that garnered backlash.

“I carried some guilt and shame around myself for years because of how much controversy and upset I really caused,” Cyrus, 30, told the publication. “Now that I’m an adult, I realize how harshly I was judged. I was harshly judged as a child by adults, and now, as an adult, I realize that I would never harshly judge a child.”

The Harsh Judgments

Cyrus also reflected on her treatment by media outlets as she transitioned into adulthood and recalled one tabloid running a story about her acne with the headline: “A Breakout Year!” At 20 years old, Cyrus said, “Who thought that I was not a person who would be hurt by that?” She added that at that age, “You think you’re grown, but now I’m like, ‘Oh, no, I was fully a kid.'”

One of the earliest controversial moments came during her time on Hannah Montana. In 2008, intimate photos of the young actress were leaked, and she faced backlash later that year for posing topless in a Vanity Fair spread. She issued an apology for the Vanity Fair photos at the time but rescinded the statement in 2018. One year later while performing “Party in the U.S.A.” at the Teen Choice Awards, Cyrus again came under fire. She stood atop an ice cream cart, held onto a pole, and squatted. At the time, she faced backlash from media outlets and fans’ parents for seemingly pole dancing.

RELATED: Miley Cyrus Discusses Finding Herself And Announces ‘Plastic Hearts’ Is Coming

In 2010, a video of Miley smoking from a bong leaked online. At the time, she said it was salvia (as opposed to marijuana)  and expressed disappointment in herself. Fast forward to 2020, and she poked fun at the moment. “Happy 10-year anniversary to the groundbreaking video of a teenager smoking a bong & saying dumb s— to their friends,” she wrote on Instagram. “Time really flew by. I remember this like it was yesterday….. J/K I don’t remember s— cause I was f—ed the hell up.”

She faced further controversies for twerking while performing with Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, being nude in her “Wrecking Ball” music video, and was accused of appropriating hip-hop culture throughout her Bangerz era.

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Author Laila Abuelhawa

Category:

• Music
• My Kiss Radio

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Miley Cyrus