Miley Cyrus reveals truth behind why she stopped speaking to dad Billy Ray Cyrus

3 June 2025, 12:18

By Sam Prance

Miley Cyrus and Billy Ray Cyrus are now on good terms again but they were estranged for multiple years.

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Miley Cyrus has opened up about her fallout with her father Billy Ray Cyrus and how they mended their relationship.

You don't have to be a Miley Cyrus fan to know that there was drama in the Cyrus household. Back in 2022, Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus officially got divorced. A rift appeared when Tish married Prison Break star Dominic Purcell in 2023. Miley and her siblings Trace and Brandi attended the wedding but Noah and her brother Braison did not.

On top of that, Noah appeared to throw digs at Miley online and Miley later used her 2024 Grammy's speech as an opportunity to thank her boyfriend Maxx Morando, her mum and Brandi but pointedly left out her dad and Noah. Ending the speech, Miley quipped: "Anyone else?...I don't think I forgot anyone."

Miley has since patched things up with her dad and Noah but now she's explained why she fell out with Billy Ray.

Read more: Miley Cyrus' mum Tish Cyrus explains why she actually divorced Billy Ray Cyrus
Read more: Miley Cyrus reveals personal reason why she's quit touring

Miley Cyrus reads out her daily schedule from when she was 13

When asked if she's still "estranged" from her father, Miley told The New York Times: "No. I think timing is everything. As I’ve gotten older, I’m respecting my parents as individuals instead of as parents. My mom’s really loved my dad for her whole life. Being married to someone in the music industry and not being a part of it is obviously really hard."

Discussing how the fallout started, Miley added: "I think I took on some of my mom’s hurt as my own because it hurt her more than it hurt me as an adult, and so I owned a lot of her pain." Appearing on Call Her Daddy in 2024, Tish explained that she endured a lot of "disrespect" in her marriage with Billy Ray and eventually had enough.

As for how she managed to amend things with her dad, Miley said: "Now that my mom is so in love with my stepdad, who I completely adore, and now that my dad, I see him finding happiness too, I can love them both as individuals instead of as a parental pairing. I’m being an adult about it."

She continued: "At first it’s hard, because the little kid in you reacts before the adult in you can go, 'Yes, that’s your dad, but that’s another person that deserves to be in his bliss and to be happy.' My child self has caught up."

Billy Ray is currently in a relationship with British actress Elizabeth Hurley.

Tish Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley Cyrus and Noah Cyrus in 2017. Picture: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

Miley also said that becoming more famous than her father affected their relationship as well: "That has added a level of complexity within my family, for sure. I think it would be hard for anybody with a dream to see somebody else achieving theirs in a way that you see for yourself. But I do think love conquered all."

She ended by saying: "He can still find the pride in me. But it would be delusional for any of us to think that that doesn’t add a level of complication to our already complicated dynamic."