Miley Cyrus Views Sinead O'Conor's Open Letter in New Light Following Her Death
A decade after Sinéad O'Connor's controversial open letter to Miley Cyrus, the pop star sees the late singer's comments in a new light.
During her ABC special "Endless Summer Vacation: Continued (Backyard Sessions)," Cyrus looked back at how she felt when she first read O'Connor's public message.
"At the time when I made 'Wrecking Ball,' I was expecting for there to be controversy and backlash, but I don't think I expected other women to put me down or turn on me, especially women that had been in my position before," said the 30-year-old.
She recalled, "So this is when I'd received an open letter from Sinead O'Connor and I had no idea about the fragile mental state that she was in, and I was also only 20 years old, so I could really only wrap my head around mental illness so much."
Cyrus then explained that, at the time, what she saw was another woman telling her that the raunchy rebrand of her image "was not my idea" and that even if the Disney Channel alum was convinced she was in control, men in power "had manipulated me to believe that it was my own idea when it never really was."
Reflecting on the letter, Cyrus realized that O'Connor had good intentions with her words, though the comments hurt.
"Our younger childhood triggers and traumas come up in weird and odd ways, and I think I had just been judged for so long for my own choices that I was just exhausted," admitted the artist. "I was in this place where I was making my own choices and my own decisions, and to have that taken away from me deeply upset me."
Cyrus then said, "God bless Sinéad O'Connor, for real, in all seriousness." She then dedicated her song "Wonder Woman" to the late Grammy winner.
In her open letter, O'Connor said she was writing "in the spirit of motherliness and with love," warning that "nothing but harm will come in the long run, from allowing yourself to be exploited, and it is absolutely NOT in ANY way an empowerment of yourself or of any young women, for you to send across the message that you are to be valued (even by you) more for your sexual appeal than your obvious talent."
At the time, Cyrus reacted negatively to it on Twitter, comparing the "Mandinka" singer to Amanda Bynes.
Next: Phoebe Bridgers Defends Late Idol Sinéad O’Connor: 'She Was Ostracized'