Miley Cyrus calls out mom Tish over controversial pole performance u2013 NBC Los Angeles
Miley Cyrus Makes Rare Comment on Ex Liam Hemsworth
Miley Cyrus says she can’t be blamed for everything that happened when she used to be young.
And that includes her performance at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards, where she sang “Party in the USA.” The performance was controversial at the time, as then 16-year-old Miley danced alongside a metal pole that had been attached to an ice cream cart.
Now, in conversation with her sister Brandi Cyrus, the 32-year-old is setting the record straight on just who made the infamous moment happen—their mother, Tish Cyrus.
“This is going to be no surprise to you,” Miley told Brandi during their conversation for Spotify’s Billions Club series on Nov. 22. “Do you know whose idea that was?”
And when Brandi, 37, guessed it was their mom’s, the Hannah Montana alum confirmed, “Yup, that was my mom’s idea. So she always lets me take the blame.”
“When I got in trouble the next day,” Miley continued, “you know who was nowhere to be found? Tish Cyrus.”
However, the Grammy winner shared that the performance was also a memorable one for her—though not for the reason one might think.
“The thing that I remember most about that performance,” she added, “was it was the first time I ever wore real diamond jewelry on stage.”
And as she turned towards the camera, she then quipped, “So you guys remember a little old ice cream truck, I remember the diamonds.”
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
But these days, Miley isn’t the only member of her family walking down memory lane. In fact, Tish—who also shares sons Trace, 35, Braison, 30, and daughter Noah, 24, with ex-husband Billy Ray Cyrus—recently gave an inside look into what it was like for her other children to grow up alongside Miley’s fame.
And when it comes to Trace, a former member of band Metro Station, Tish said it’s always been the best of both worlds.
“He really just told me the other day, ‘I’ve always like, I’ve never been jealous of Miley,’” she noted on the Nov. 24 episode of Sibling Revelry with Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson. “‘I’ve always been grateful for the opportunities I get because of her.'”
Instagram/Trace Cyrus
And according to the 57-year-old, it’s a common theme among her children.
“I think that my kids have mostly seen it that way,” she added. “I’m sure it’s hard to be… the Mileys of the world don’t come around very often.”
Though Tish admitted, “Not everybody gets to go in that way. It’s harder because you have to work harder and do things differently and it’s just a completely different career path and a way into your career than the way Miley had with Hannah Montana.”
For more on the Cyrus family tree, keep reading.
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How the Cyrus Family Started
Billy Ray Cyrus married Tish Cyrus (née Leticia Finley) on Dec. 28, 2003.
At the time they already shared 12-month-old daughter Destiny Hope Cyrus—you may know her as Miley Cyrus now—and Tish was pregnant with their son Braison Cyrus, who was born May 9, 1994.
Seven months before Miley was born on Nov. 23, 1992, Billy Ray’s ex-girlfriend Kristin Luckey gave birth to their son Christopher Cody Cyrus on April 8.
Barry King/FilmMagic
When the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer married Tish, he adopted her daughter Brandi Cyrus (born May 26, 1987) and son Trace Cyrus (Feb. 24, 1989), whose biological father is their mom’s ex-husband Baxter Helson.
Chris Polk/FilmMagic
Trish and Billy Ray’s youngest, daughter Noah Cyrus, was born Jan. 8, 2000.
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Father-Daughter Stardom
From 2006 to 2010, Billy Ray played the father of Miley’s normal-kid-who-moonlights-as-a-pop-star character in the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana and a 2009 film adaptation.
While the Cyrus family was still based in Nashville, Billy Ray and Miley made the move to L.A. to jumpstart her own entertainment career.
Steve Granitz/WireImage
Where There’s Smoke…
Billy Ray and Tish announced in October 2010 that they were getting divorced, but by the following year were back together.
They filed for divorce again in June 2013 but reconsidered barely a month later, telling E! News at the time that they’d been to couple’s counseling and it had done wonders for them.
But before they reconciled, when the news broke that her dad had made the first move in a Nashville court to end his marriage after 19 years, Miley tweeted, “@billyraycyrus since your text and email obviously aren’t working would you like to talk like this?”
Rich Polk/Getty Images for Disney
Miley Starts Over
After a decade of being together off and on, and in the wake of losing their Malibu home in a fire, Miley and her The Last Song co-star Liam Hemsworth married in December 2018.
The decision came “from a place of trauma and just trying to rebuild as quickly as we could,” Miley recalled on her “Used to Be Young” TikTok series.
But Liam filed for divorce in August 2019 and they finalized the paperwork in January 2020.
“It’s honestly very simple,” a source told E! at the time. “They fell in love when they were young and they are just different people now.”
Instagram/Trace Cyrus
The Family Tree Keeps Growing
Tish and Billy Ray became grandparents in 2021 when their son Braison and his wife Stella welcomed son Bear Chance Cyrus on June 8.
Amy Sussman/FilmMagic
Billy Ray and Tish Split Up for Good
Tish filed for divorce fo a third time in April 2022, and this time it stuck.
Moreover, her petition citing “irreconcilable differences” noted that she and her husband of almost 30 years hadn’t lived together since February 2020.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images
“It is after 30 years, five amazing children and a lifetime of memories, we have decided to go our separate ways—not with sadness, but with love in our hearts,” Tish and Billy Ray told People in a statement. “We have grown up together, raised a family we can be so proud of, and it is now time to create our own paths.”
The exes noted that they hadn’t come to the decision to split up for good “lightly or quickly,” adding, “We will always be family and look forward to a continued and loving shared experience as friends and parents.”
Billy Ray Cyrus Moves on With Firerose
Billy Ray quietly got engaged to Australian singer Firerose, who’s 27 years his junior, in August 2022 but waited to confirm the news until that November.
“Growing up in Australia, my love of music was predominant over everything,” Firerose told People. “I’ve known his music since forever.”
What started as a friendship turned into more during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“All of the sudden, the life that I’ve always known as a touring artist didn’t exist anymore,” Billy Ray said. “A moment of so much change. And at the same time, Firerose, who had been such a light of positivity, such a best friend. And then when we began sharing the music, it just evolved more into, as musical soulmates, to soulmates, happy, pure love that to me, I didn’t know could exist.”
Tish Cyrus Finds Love With Dominic Purcell
Around the time her ex-husband confirmed his engagment in November 2022, Tish went Instagram-official with Prison Break actor Dominic Purcell.
They got engaged in April 2023 and tied the knot that August in Malibu at sunset with Miley, Trace and Brandi all standing by their mom’s side.
“Life is unpredictable & always full of changes,” Trace captioned a photo of himself and two of his sibling with the bride. “I think the most important thing to do is cherish the past, look forward to the future, & always be happy in the present moment because that’s really all we have.”
Miley Weighs in on Her Mom’s Love Life
“To see my mom this happy and in love is very emotional for me,” Miley told Vogue last summer ahead of her mom’s wedding. “Dom and my mom share the sweetest, most genuine love. It’s almost like it’s for the first time, which is so fitting for my mom who is such a young soul.”
Instagram/Billy Ray Cyrus
As for her dad’s next chapter, however, a source close to Miley told E! News in October 2022 that she wasn’t in love with it and didn’t have a relationship with her future stepmom.
“The divorce between her parents put a strain on her relationship with her dad and it’s been hard to connect with him in the last year,” the source said. “She hopes they can eventually work on their relationship.”
Billy Ray told People that November, however, that his family had “no hard feelings” about his engagement.
“Everybody’s turning the page,” he said. “It’s been a lot, but everyone knew that it was time for a change.”
He and Firerose got married on Oct. 10, 2023, calling it the “beautiful, joyous day that our two souls united as one in holy matrimony.”
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Only Some of Miley’s Family Get Their Flowers
Whatever rift opened up between Miley and her dad apparently hadn’t been repaired by the night of the 2024 Grammys on Feb. 4.
Tish and Brandi were there, as was Miley’s boyfriend Maxx Morando, and they all got shout-outs when the “Flowers” singer won Record of the Year.
As Miley concluded her speech, “I don’t think I forgot anyone.”
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Wait, What?
None of the three officially confirmed or denied eyebrow-raising reports that Noah was involved with Dominic before her mother was, but the Grammy-nominated singer had some choice words for an Instagram commenter in April 2024 after the person crudely suggested that Noah and Tish both had “sexy time” with the actor.
“I’m so sorry but will you pleeeeeass just choke on the fattest c–k,” Noah wrote in response. “Just for a lil bit. Great thanks.”
Instagram/Firerose
Billy Ray Cyrus Moves on From Firerose
Barely eight months after they tied the knot, Billy Ray filed to annul the union, alleging in court documents the marriage was “obtained by fraud.”
He listed May 22 as their date of separation.
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