Unless you were raised in a tech-avoiding commune, you know the proverbial wild child Miley Cyrus. The daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus rose to fame starring in the beloved Disney Channel sitcom. Hannah Montana. Though "loved" is certainly not the word Miley would use to describe the four seasons she spent on the show.
And she really really hated that blonde wig. Off-camera, Miley launched a successful music career of her own while also making headlines for posing seductively on a sheet on the cover of Vanity Fair, smoking salvia, and dancing on a stripper pole at the Teen Choice Awards, all while he was still a minor.
When the show ended in 2011, Miley was determined to transition into adulthood on her own terms. The "Climb" singer spent the next few years in a kind of endless Rumspringa that involved sex, drugs, and explicit pop music. Was it a rebellion against his wholesome Disney image or a series of calculated career moves designed to boost fame and fortune? We may never meet the real Miley, but one thing is for sure: she can't be tamed. Grab some pearls to grab, because we're about to break the wildest things Miley Cyrus has ever done.Miley Cyrus sticking her tongue out at the 2013 VMAsLarry Busacca
Miley Cyrus cemented her racy reputation at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2013. Cyrus' rendition of "We Can't Stop" mimicked her video, and Miley's infamous tongue came out in full force. But then Robin Thicke joined her onstage for a duet of her disgusting song "Blurred Lines" and things got…uglier.Cyrus wore a n*de latex bikini and finished off the racy ensemble with a giant foam finger. For the choreography, the pelvic pop star entrepreneur awkwardly twerked against Thicke's baby-making machine.
As expected, the performance sparked outrage, and while Thicke blamed Cyrus on Oprah's Next Chapter, Cyrus told her truth to The New York Times in 2015: "It was funny, because I felt really hot about it, but that's just being a woman. She acted like she didn't know what was going to happen. You were at rehearsals! And actually he was the one who approved of my outfit... It was very much a collaboration."
For her part, Cyrus had no regrets about the performance, insisting to The New York Times, "I can't believe it was such a big deal. It wasn't surprising at all." But the singer contradicted herself in a documentary, saying: "Madonna has done it. Britney has done it. Every VMA performance... you want to make history." We hate to break it to Cyrus, but we don't think the 2013 VMAs will be in the textbooks of the future.
Miley Cyrus took the stage at the EMAs
Miley Cyrus has smoked a lot of marijuana. I like it a lot. Cyrus has never been shy about his love affair with Mary Jane and even admitted on The Joe Rogan Experience that while he's no longer involved, he started smoking at a young age: "You know, at one point, again, he went from... It was school, then it went from, you know, how much pot can I really smoke and still? play a teenage superstar on the Disney channel?
A few months after the 2013 VMAs, MTV held its Europe Music Awards in Amsterdam. Like a moth to a flame, Cyrus visited one of Amsterdam's many coffee shops before the awards and, as the Daily Mail noted, "Of course the place, although called a coffee shop, is known less for its aromatic beans and more for its wide variety of cannabis products.
As Cyrus won best video and thanked the audience, she pulled out what appeared to be a coffee shop souvenir, also known as a joint, and proceeded to smoke it (as shown above). Miley's marijuana moment was edited out by MTV when the EMAs were televised in the US, but Cyrus still made headlines for her stage stunt. Hey, when in Rome…
Miley Cyrus with her face in the dancer's butt
When Cyrus announced that the Bangerz World Tour would be coming in 2014, fans knew the experience would be unlike any other. Miley made her grand entrance onstage by sliding down a huge pink tongue that unfurled mechanically from a giant image of her own head. The formula was wild but expected: skimpy outfits, X-rated inflatables, marijuana references, and plenty of twerking.
Some felt Cyrus was using women as "props." Other critics argued that she was borrowing themes from hip hop culture but turning it into some kind of grotesque parody. Cyrus denied the accusations of cultural appropriation and racism, and then made things worse in a 2017 Billboard interview in which she seemingly denounced the hip-hip culture that she had so embraced.
By 2019, however, Cyrus had another change of heart after a
YouTuber called her out for both her cultural appropriation and the
Billboard interview. Responding in the comments section of the video (via
Teen Vogue), Cyrus admitted that she was speaking irresponsibly from a place
of privilege. “Simply said; I screwed up and I sincerely apologize," the
"Jolene" singer wrote, adding, "I am committed to using my voice to heal,
change and stand up for what is right."
