Celebs Miley Cyrus Has Beefed With
This article references mental health issues.
Whether she's onstage, onscreen, or just in her personal life, Miley Cyrus is undoubtedly the kind of celebrity who knows how to keep things interesting. It probably helps that the Franklin, Tennessee native has been in show business since she was a kid. Cyrus had risen to fame on the Disney Channel, as the lead star of the hit show, "Hannah Montana" from 2006 to 2011. She followed that role with performances in films like "The Last Song" and "LOL." However, she eventually turned her focus to her music, releasing album after album including 2013's "Bangerz" and 2020's "Plastic Hearts."
While Cyrus has had a lot of success throughout her career, she's also been involved in multiple scandals, such as Vanity Fair's semi-nude photoshoot with the star when she was just 15 years old or the time she infamously twerked on Robin Thicke during their 2013 MTV VMA's performance. Discussing her evolution from a wholesome Disney star to a controversial pop music provocateur, she told Harper's Bazaar, "People get told that it's a bad thing to change ... But you are supposed to change all the time."
Regardless, Cyrus' attitude and openness have won her a lot of supporters. For instance, music producer, Mark Ronson, once told Forbes, "She's so brutally, blatantly honest about her life and, combine that with her voice, that's why she has over 150 million people worshiping her." Yet, her personality may have also ruffled the feathers of a few famous people too – these are the celebs that Miley Cyrus has beefed with.
She came in like a wrecking ball for Liam Hemsworth
Almost four years after their split, Miley Cyrus announced a new song about heartbreak — due for release on the birthday of her ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth. Suffice it to say, as of 2023, it would appear she still has beef with him. The former couple had been in an on-and-off relationship for a decade before they tied the knot, only to divorce a year later. It appears things didn't end on good terms either, considering that Cyrus has thrown shade at her ex on various occasions.
For example, in 2019, she seemingly dissed him on Instagram Live (via Us Weekly) while praising her then-boyfriend Cody Simpson. Stating how she'd come to realize that good men actually exist, she suggested that her new beau was the only one she'd met so far. "I thought all guys were evil," she added. Cyrus bashed Hemsworth more directly on "The Howard Stern Show" (via E! News) when discussing their marriage, saying, "There was too much conflict ... I don't get off on drama or fighting." And then there was the time when she referred to the union as, "A f***ing disaster," during a 2022 live show.
Speaking to Rolling Stone two years earlier, she reflected that there may have been some falsehoods at play in the public perception of their relationship. "I was playing house, which felt really good at the time," she said. "... It looked like I was living some fairy tale. It really wasn't." For his part, Hemsworth has remained mum on his ex.
Miley had a public feud with Nicki Minaj
Since the feud played out on national TV in 2015, Miley Cyrus' beef with Nicki Minaj may be her most famous. Their dispute seemingly sparked from the rapper expressing her frustration that the incredibly popular music videos for "Anaconda" and "Feelin' Myself" weren't nominated for Video of the Year. "If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year," she tweeted. When The New York Times asked Cyrus, the VMAs host that year, what she thought about the star's comments, she responded, "What I read sounded very Nicki Minaj, which, if you know Nicki Minaj is not too kind. It's not very polite."
That set Minaj off, and she called Cyrus out for it on stage while accepting the VMA for Best Hip Hop Video. She infamously followed up her speech by stating, "And now, back to this b***h who had a lot to say about me the other day in the press. Miley, what's good?" Of course, Cyrus didn't take that public diss well and responded, "We all do interviews. We all know how they manipulate s***. Congratuf***inglations, Nicki."
But, the beef didn't end there. In her 2019 track "Cattitude," Cyrus sang the lyrics, "I love you Nicki, but I listen to Cardi," in reference to another of the rapper's rivals. Meanwhile, Minaj fired back during an episode of her "Queen Radio" show (via People), where she claimed that the singer was simply dragging her name for clout.
Miley Cyrus had bad blood with Taylor Swift
Miley Cyrus may have been friends with Taylor Swift in 2009 when they sang a duet at that year's Grammy Awards but it appears some love was lost between the two by 2015. That year, both singers had reached new heights of their fame, with Swift touring her hit album, "1989" and Cyrus promoting, "Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz." It was also the time that Swift had her infamous girl squad which consisted of models like Gigi Hadid and Cara Delevingne, as well as stars like Selena Gomez and Hailee Steinfield.
Evidently, Cyrus was not among them and apparently had no interest in joining, either. She even straight up told The New York Times, "I'm not trying to be in the squad." She then seemingly threw some shade at Swift and her friends by adding, "None of my friends are famous and not because of any other reason than I just like real people who are living real lives because I'm inspired by them."
Cyrus didn't stop there either. Speaking to Marie Claire that same year, she took issue with Swift's combative music video for "Bad Blood" — her alleged diss track against Katy Perry. "I don't get the violence revenge thing," she told the outlet. "That's supposed to be a good example?" Cyrus further suggested she was treated unfairly, while Swift was celebrated, adding, "I'm a bad role model because I'm running around with my ti***es out? I'm not sure how ti***es are worse than guns."
She feuded with Selena Gomez over a boy
Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez may have been Disney darlings together but they had beef in their teens. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it started over a boy — none other than singer and fellow Disney Channel star, Nick Jonas, whom Cyrus had first dated in 2006. "Nick and I loved each other... For two years he was basically my 24/7," she told Seventeen (via People). Following their 2008 split, Jonas quickly moved on with Gomez. That may not have gone down too well with his ex, who posted a parody video on YouTube of a vlog Gomez had done with Demi Lovato.
Cyrus may have still been salty toward Gomez in 2014 too, considering that she dedicated her song "FU" to Gomez at a concert while throwing what appeared to be a somewhat homemade cardboard cutout of her off the stage, per Vulture. Three years later, the "Only Murders in the Building" star addressed her feud with the performer in an interview with W magazine. "I'm a fan of her music — I don't know if she'd say that about me," she dished. However, she denied that they ever had any beef between them, stating simply, "We both liked the same guy when we were 16."
By 2019 though, Cyrus seemed finally over it and similarly denied that there was ever an issue during an interview with Capital FM. During her "Saturday Night Live" monologue in 2022, Gomez even gave her old pal a shoutout with an affectionate impression.
She gave Katy Perry a tongue lashing
Miley Cyrus' falling out with Katy Perry didn't last long but it was dramatic enough to make headlines in 2014. Their feud apparently began after they locked lips for a kiss cam when the "Firework" singer attended one of Cyrus' concerts. What started as a sweet moment later took a turn when Perry dragged her smooch buddy during an episode of "Sunrise" (via CNN). After complimenting her pal's live show, she discussed their kiss cam moment. "I just walked up to her to give her like a friendly girly kiss ... and then she like, tried to move her head and go deeper and I pulled away," she said. "God knows where that tongue has been. We don't know!"
In response, Cyrus took to Twitter to fire back at Perry by shaming her past relationship with John Mayer. "Girl, if [you're] worried [about] where tongues have been, good thing [your] ex-boo is [your] ex-boo 'cause we all know where that [tongue] been." For those unfamiliar with his rich romantic history, Mayer had been linked to a slew of other women prior to Perry. Still, there's a good chance this beef was at least fairly lighthearted all around. Especially since that same day, she later tweeted an illustration of them kissing, along with the tease, "[Don't] act like you didn't [love] it." Perry seemed willing to play along since she replied, "Oooo [girl], I'm gonna give you the biggest spanking when I see you in the U.K.!"
Did Miley break her dad's achy breaky heart?
You could say that Miley Cyrus has had beef with her own famous father, Billy Ray Cyrus. In 2022, The U.S. Sun reported that the two had experienced a falling out after he and Miley's mom, Tish Cyrus, divorced earlier that year. A source claimed, "[Miley] didn't agree with some things that her father has done. It has really escalated and they are not on good terms." They went on to dish that after some harsh words were said, neither wanted to apologize.
Speaking to E! News, another insider suggested that the "Wrecking Ball" singer had grown closer to her mom during the divorce, which put tension on her relationship with her dad. Billy Ray's relationship with his then-fiancé, Firerose, may have also complicated matters. Apparently, his daughter didn't publicly acknowledge the engagement and was even apparently upset about it. "Miley was already shocked and appalled that Billy Ray and Firerose were hooking up, so now that he's stuck a ring on this gal's finger, it's ... a real kick in the teeth," a source claimed to Radar.
While she hasn't publicly commented on their estrangement, Billy Ray did acknowledge that the divorce caused issues with his kids. However, he also downplayed the problems, telling People, "Everyone knew that relationship was over a long time ago. It's been a lot, but everyone knew that it was time for a change."
She may have had drama with Kim Kardashian
It appears that Miley Cyrus may have had drama with Kim Kardashian in 2021 when the reality star was dating Pete Davidson. Back then, Cyrus had been working with the "SNL" comedian on NBC's New Year's Eve Special and may have caught feelings for him — or at least pretended that she did. Some even believe that Cyrus made a ploy for Kardashian's then-man when on "The Tonight Show" since she poked fun at Davidson's headline-making dates with Kardashian when singing the song "It Should Have Been Me" to him. Cyrus even tailored the lyrics to, "It should have been me in that Lamborghini leaving that nice-a** restaurant."
Cyrus was probably just joking around, and Davidson's uncontrollable giggles certainly seemed to suggest so much. Still, there's a chance that Kardashian didn't see the funny side. According to Page Six, the Skims founder unfollowed the singer on Instagram. A Cyrus fan account had noticed that Kardashian had started following the singer on December 10 before her TV special with Davidson, but by January she wasn't anymore.
While neither star ever confirmed there was beef, Cyrus may have made her feelings known about Kardashian years earlier. In 2016, she commented on Kardashian's then-feud with Chloe Grace Moretz and Bette Midler. Seemingly responding to the Twitter storm regarding the reality star's nude photos, Cyrus took to Instagram to write (via Yahoo), "Dear women, you all are acting tacky AF! ... Can we all put the [cattiness] aside for one f***ing day."
Miley can't stop, won't stop dissing Ed Sheeran
Miley Cyrus seemingly had a good reason to clash with Ed Sheeran. During a 2013 interview with The Mirror (via Daily Mail), the "Perfect" singer griped about the star, "I just think she's packaged the wrong way." Although he went on to compliment her song "Wrecking Ball," he also added that the provocative music video hindered it. That wasn't even the worst part though, considering that Sheeran also said, "I think encouraging young people to twerk might be a bad thing. It's a stripper's move."
It appears Cyrus got wind of his comments because at that next year's MTV VMAs she was caught on camera calling him an "a**hole" when he took the stage. If that's not indication enough that there was beef, Sheeran also walked right by Cyrus only to high-five Scooter Braun who was sitting next to her. Sheeran later discussed it on "On Air With Ryan Seacrest" (via Us Weekly) saying, "Well, I don't know why people were expecting that [high-five]. I've never met her."
Eventually, Sheeran became more apologetic, telling The Sun (via E! News), "I was a bit of a c***. I do feel bad about it as I'd be f***ing livid if someone said that about me." Still, that apparently didn't change much for Cyrus. During a 2017 interview she threw more shade his way when Billboard asked whether her album had a singer-songwriter vibe. "Yeah. But not granola," she responded. "I don't listen to Ed Sheeran and John Mayer and stuff."
Miley Cyrus clashed with Sinead O'Connor
Miley Cyrus definitely had a war of words with Sinead O'Connor in 2013. The Irish singer had written Cyrus an open letter expressing her concern about her controversial image after the music video for "Wrecking Ball" was compared with hers for "Nothing Compares 2 U." In the letter (via The Hollywood Reporter), O'Connor warned against the dangers of music industry exploitation, writing, "You will obscure your talent by allowing yourself to be pimped."
While she may have believed she was helping, Cyrus didn't take it that way. On Twitter, she shared screenshots of tweets where O'Connor had asked for emergency help in treating her mental illness, and mockingly wrote, "Before Amanda Bynes ... There was...." In response, O'Connor wrote another open letter that slammed the star for ridiculing mental health issues — and for dragging Bynes into the joke. Cyrus seemingly dismissed it though, tweeting back, "Sinead. I don't have time to write you an open letter 'cause I'm hosting [and] performing on 'SNL' this week." That inspired a third letter from O'Connor who demanded an apology — not just for herself, but also to Bynes, and all those with mental health issues. She also threatened legal action.
Days later, Cyrus addressed the feud on "Today" (via MTV). Stating how O'Connor had inspired her as an artist, she added, "I don't know how someone can start a fight with somebody that's saying, 'Hey I really respect you,'... that was kind of crazy."
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.