Miley Cyrus opens up about estrangement from Billy Ray Cyrus and choosing her mom, Tish Cyrus

In February, when Miley won a Grammy, she chose not to mention her dad during her acceptance speech at the ceremony. 

Image: AFP

Miley Cyrus is openly discussing the complex relationship she shares with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus.

In a recent interview on David Letterman's Netflix series "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction," the Grammy-winning "Flowers" singer talked about the valuable lessons she has learned, both positive and negative, from Billy Ray.

Miley Cyrus opens up about her relationship with her dad

"He has a relationship and a foot on the ground to the real and to nature and he always did, even when he was super famous," remarked Miley, aged 31, about her father, who achieved stardom in country music with his 1992 hit "Achy Breaky Heart."

"I'm grateful for being able to watch him ahead of me. He's almost given me this map. And there's a map of what to do and what not to do, and he's guided me on both."

"I also inherited the narcissism from my father," she mentioned during the interview.

When asked to compare how her parents influenced her current successes, Miley emphasized their differences, telling the talk show host that “they can't be weighed on the same scale, actually."

"Without my dad, I know — I mean, not just literally I wouldn't be sitting in this chair, I wouldn't exist — but I would not, who I am as a person, it wouldn't exist. Because my dad, as a creative and as an artist in the way that his brain works, has always made me feel safer in my own mind because we're very similar in our ideas," she added.

"So I think a lot of his perspective on reality and on life, I've inherited from him, more so than the way that I was raised — which really, my mom raised me."

"Honestly, my mom is my hero," Miley said about Tish Cyrus, who also made an appearance on the special.

Her remarks coincide with speculation about a reported family rift that reportedly started soon after Tish, aged 57, initiated divorce proceedings from Billy Ray in April 2022.

Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus break up, Miley Cyrus takes her mom’s side

During their parents' divorce, it seemed that the Cyrus siblings seemingly took sides. Miley, Brandi (aged 37), and Trace (aged 35) attended Tish's wedding, while Braison (aged 30) and Noah (aged 24) were absent.

In February, when Miley won the Grammy for Record of the Year, she chose not to mention her dad during her acceptance speech at the ceremony.

Accompanied by Tish and Brandi, she thanked her mom, sister, and her partner Maxx Morando, joking, "I don't think I missed anyone. But I might have forgotten my underwear. Bye!"

During her conversation with Letterman, Miley discussed her current relationship with her parents. Letterman questioned, "Is it unlikely that both parents would share an equal role going through your life — where it's always going to be one or the other is closer as things evolve?"

"It's really just not the closeness," Miley replied.

"I think it's the capacity in which my mom was raised by a completely intact, beautiful family. Actually, my mom was adopted so my mom was chosen. Her parents couldn't have children so they wanted her more than anything in the world. So my mom came in to this world being wanted and being loved and being given the most beautiful life. My grandmother spoiled not only her but me completely rotten. My dad didn't have that."

You can watch My Next Guest Needs No Introduction on Netflix now.

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