Miley Cyrus is opening up about the shifting dynamics within her famous family and how her parents’ new relationships have helped her heal, grow, and see them in a new light. In a candid appearance on “The Interview,” a New York Times podcast, the 32-year-old singer reflected on her journey from holding onto her mother’s pain to accepting both her parents as individuals.
Miley speaks publicly for the first time about her father, Billy Ray Cyrus’s, romance with actress Elizabeth Hurley. She says it has helped her embrace her parents beyond their roles in her upbringing. “As I’ve gotten older, I respect my parents as individuals instead of as parents,” Miley shared. “Because, you know, my mom really loved my dad for her whole life. I took on some of my mom’s hurt as my own, because it hurt her more than it hurt me as an adult. So I owned a lot of her pain as mine.”
Miley Cyrus Reflects on Parents’ New Relationships
Miley’s mother, Tish, split from Billy Ray in 2022 after 28 years of marriage. The couple finalized their divorce in 2023 after nearly three decades together. That same year, Tish married “Prison Break” actor Dominic Purcell in an intimate August ceremony. Meanwhile, Billy Ray was linked to Hurley in April following the end of his short-lived marriage to singer Firerose. “But now that my mom is so in love with my stepdad, Dom, who I completely adore, and now that I see my dad finding happiness outside of that too, I can love them both as individuals instead of as a kind of parental pairing,” Miley continued. “I’m being an adult about it.”
Miley admitted that adjusting to her father’s new relationship wasn’t easy at first. “At first, it’s hard,” she says. “Because the little kid in you reacts before the adult in you can go, yes, that’s your dad, but that’s just another person that deserves to be in his bliss and to be happy. So my adult self has caught up. My child self has caught up.”
Billy Ray’s New Love Gets Miley’s Attention
Billy Ray and Hurley reportedly bonded over their mutual love of rural living and horses. Though the relationship is still in its early days, it’s already turned heads, including Miley’s. Still, the singer appears to be approaching it all with empathy and maturity.
Reflecting on the media scrutiny that has long followed her family, Miley noted how the rapid pace of today’s digital culture has transformed the way people absorb headlines. She explained that what once lingered in the spotlight for months now fades quickly in the ever-changing news cycle.
“The thing I like about the new way that the world works is that everything is so fast, it’s forgotten really quickly,” she says. “In the Nineties when something happened… it would just last for a year. Now it’s just gone. Social media moves so fast. It just eats everything. Something may seem really important for a couple hours but then there’s a meme that goes viral, somebody scats at Walmart or something, and that becomes the next thing.”
While she’s grown used to being a tabloid fixture, Miley admits it’s not herself she worries about the most. “It can be embarrassing… not so much for me,” she says. “I try to just be more compassionate to my parents because I hate that for them. And I mostly hate it for my siblings that have chosen not to be in this industry, because they didn’t choose that kind of highlight on themselves.”
Miley Cyrus Embraces Growth and Family as She Launches New Chapter With ‘Easy Lover’
Miley shares siblings Trace and Brandi with Tish, while Braison and Noah are the children of both Tish and Billy Ray. She also has a brother, Chris, who is Billy Ray’s biological son from a previous relationship.
With the release of her latest single “Easy Lover,” Miley Cyrus is stepping into a new chapter. This phase of her life is marked by compassion and personal growth. She’s learning to love those closest to her as individuals, not just as parents.
