Miley Cyrus opens up about her 'deep regret' over row with Sinead O'Connor

Sunday World

05-06-2025

Cyrus had previously said she was only 20-years-old when the Irish star expressed concerns about Miley's Wrecking Ball music video
Miley Cyrus has said she regrets her public spat with Sinéad O'Connor, saying she responded in a way 'that I would never as an adult'.
Cyrus had previously said she was only 20-years-old when the Irish star expressed concerns about Miley's Wrecking Ball music video.
But in a new interview, Miley told the New York Times that reflecting on how she handled the situation 'bums me out'.
In 2013, Miley, the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, appeared in the controversial music video that depicted her while straddling a steel construction ball and running her tongue along a sledgehammer.
The video prompted Sinéad to publish an open letter at the time, suggesting that the former Disney star was being 'exploited'.
'I am extremely concerned for you that those around you have led you to believe, or encouraged you in your own belief, that it is in any way 'cool' to be naked and licking sledgehammers in your videos,' Sinéad wrote.
'It is in fact the case that you will obscure your talent by allowing yourself to be pimped, whether [it's] the music business or yourself doing the pimping.'
Miley and Sinead
News in 90 Seconds - 5th June 2025
Sinead who died in 2023, aged 56, added: 'The music business doesn't give a shit about you, or any of us. They will prostitute you for all you are worth, and cleverly make you think it's what you wanted [...] and when you end up in rehab as a result of being prostituted, 'they' will be sunning themselves on their yachts in Antigua, which they bought by selling your body and you will find yourself very alone.'
Miley who said that Sinéad's own Nothing Compares 2 U music video had been one of her inspirations, responded at the time by sharing screenshots of past tweets Sinéad had posted.
She raised Sinead's previous issues with her mental health and compared her to Amanda Bynes, the actor who was undergoing treatment in a rehab centre at that time.
But in a new interview Miley told the New York Times, that reflecting on how she handled the situation 'bums me out'.
'I responded in a way that I would never as an adult, but that was also an adult talking to a young person,' she explained.
'I would say that feels like her experience being reflected on to me but that's not my experience. My experience was not that the music industry didn't care about me.
'I understand the business I'm in,' she added, referring to the fact she was raised in a family with existing music industry connections thanks to her dad and godmother Dolly Parton.
'I'm in the record business. When I sign a contract, they're buying records that they wish to sell, so I understand that I am setting myself up to become merchandise.
'I've committed to them that I want to not only bring success for myself but also to them. So I understand the music industry.'
In 2023, Miley said she had 'no idea about the fragile mental state' Sinéad was in when they engaged in their public spat.
'I was also only 20 years old, so I could really only wrap my head around mental illness so much,' she said. 'All that I saw was that another woman had told me that this idea was not my idea.'
'God bless Sinéad O'Connor, in all seriousness,' Miley insisted.
In February, there was a mixed reaction when Miley covered Sinead's version of the Prince song Nothing Compares 2 U at the SNL 50th concert.
While some viewers were apparently moved by the performance others felt it was in bad taste given their difficult past, and the fact that Sinéad was banned from SNL after she ripped up a photo of the Pope on air.
An insider told DailyMail.com that not only does Miley have no regrets, it was her idea to sing the song that she knew 'would cause some people to get offended'.
And while she is 'aware of the backlash', she 'believes she killed it' and that she finds the controversy 'quite comical'.
'It was absolutely Miley's idea to sing Nothing Compares 2 U and she believes she killed it,' the source said, according to MailOnline.
'And she knew going into this that it would cause some people to get offended. It is actually quite comical to her.'