Miley Cyrus Says She Felt “Guilt And Shame” Over Racy Post-Disney Era

Miley Cyrus has opened up about her iconic post-Disney era (circa 2013-2016), admitting she once felt “guilt and shame” over her racy aesthetic choices and lyrical content.

Cyrus cut her teeth at the House of Mouse with her titular starring role on Hannah Montana, which ran from 2006 to 2007 on the Disney Channel. In a bid to make her own singing career stand out, Cyrus took a hard left from Disney’s family-friendly image, boasting freely of her drug use and boldly embracing her sexuality in photoshoots, music videos and live performances. 

Encapsulating the era is Cyrus’ 2013 album Bangerz, which featured such classics as We Can’t Stop and Wrecking Ball (the film clip for the latter featured the multi-hyphenate in the nude). The hypersexual aesthetics were also a key element of her 2015 album, Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz – however in 2017, with the album Younger Now, she ditched them for the more traditional, ‘70s-inspired country-rocker look.

Reflecting on the Bangerz era, Cyrus said in a new interview with Vogue (as republished by The Sun): “I carried some guilt and shame around for years because of how much controversy and upset I really caused. Now I’m an adult, I realise how harshly I was judged.”

Cyrus went on to confirm that she lent into her shock-pop visuals to shed her perceived ties to Disney: “I was creating attention for myself because I was dividing myself from a character.”

In the years since she cleaned up her image, Cyrus has embraced sobriety and now considers herself “evolved” from her past self. She released her latest album, Endless Summer Vacation, back in March via Columbia. It debuted at #1 on the ARIA Charts.