Miley Cyrus reflects on Sinéad O’Connor spat: ‘It bums me out’

Miley Cyrus has given a new interview in which she reflects on her public falling out with Sinéad O’Connor in 2013.

Speaking to the The New York Times, Cyrus has said that the interaction “bums her out” and that she reflects on her actions as that of a young person.

The spat began when O’Connor published an open letter to the then-20-year-old singer following the release of her ‘Wrecking Ball’ music video which received comparisons to O’Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ video.

The video includes shots of Cyrus completely naked and licking sledgehammers. O’Connor wrote: “The music business doesn’t give a shit about you, or any of us. They will prostitute you for all you are worth, and cleverly make you think its what YOU wanted … and when you end up in rehab as a result of being prostituted, ‘they’ will be sunning themselves on their yachts in Antigua, which they bought by selling your body and you will find yourself very alone.”

Cyrus responded to O’Connor’s remarks through a series of tweets in which she mocked the artist’s mental health, comparing her to fellow child star Amanda Bynes who was in rehab at that time.

O’Connor, who suffered from bipolar disorder, previously tweeted incoherently asking her followers for help finding a psychiatrist. Cyrus screenshot these tweets and posted them with the caption: “Before there was Amanda Bynes… There was…”

She also made references to O’Connor’s infamous Saturday Night Live performance in 1994 in which the star made shockwaves when she tore up a photo of the Pope and spoke into the camera saying: “Fight the real enemy!”

“I responded in a way that I would never as an adult, but that was also an adult talking to a young person,” Cyrus told The New York Times recently.

“Reflecting on O’Connor’s original comments, she explained: “I would say that feels like her experience being reflected on to me but that’s not my experience. My experience was not that the music industry didn’t care about me.”

When asked if O’Connor’s words resonate differently with her now 12 years later, she affirmed her original stance but noted that her childhood star upbringing and proximity to stars like father Billy Ray Cyrus and godmother Dolly Parton prepared her for fame in a way O’Connor would not have been.

“No, I still don’t feel that way,” she began, “but I also came from a very different upbringing where I’ve known fame since the moment that I was born and I’ve never known anything else. So I think I was really well prepared in a way.

“It’s really hard to train yourself to know what to expect, everything that fame can bring but I already had the handbook because they did the same thing to my dad and to Dolly.”

“I understand the business I’m in,” Cyrus went on to say. “I’m in the record business. When I sign a contract, they’re buying records that they wish to sell, so I understand that I am setting myself up to become merchandise. I’ve committed to them that I want to not only bring success for myself but also to them. So I understand the music industry.”

Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard perform Nothing Compares 2 U by Prince on #SNL50 pic.twitter.com/SPwheqZfgH

— ASTHTC (@theASTHTC) February 17, 2025

The star previously spoke about the disagreement with O’Connor on her 2023 Endless Summer Vacation concert special, saying then: “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. All that I saw was that another woman had told me that this idea was not my idea.”

Cyrus recently performed ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ on the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special. When asked why she chose to sing O’Connor’s hit single, the singer confirmed it was not originally her choice.

“It was actually Lorne Michael’s request, Lorne asked me to do Nothing Compares 2 U, and it was originally Mark Ronson’s idea who was creative directing the music,” she explained. “So that initially didn’t come from me but I thought it was a great idea.

“Of course, this you know interaction that I had with Sinéad bums me out ’cause I really respect her as a person as an artist and so it was my way of paying my respects.”