Miley Cyrus Receives Backlash for Saying ‘You Don’t Have to Be Gay’ During Instagram Live Rant

Miley Cyrus is on the receiving end of backlash after the singer said during an Instagram Live video with boyfriend Cody Simpson that “you don’t have to be gay” in order to find love. Cyrus and Simpson were chatting about their relationship in the video Sunday night when Cyrus said it.

“There are good men out there, guys, don’t give up. You don’t have to be gay, there are good people with d—s out there, you’ve just got to find them,” she said in the live stream. “You’ve got to find a d— that’s not a d—, you know? I always thought I had to be gay, because I thought all guys were evil, but it’s not true. There are good people out there that just happen to have d—. I’ve only ever met one, and he’s on this live.”

Cyrus’ statement, which implies that being gay is a choice, did not go over well on social media.

“Miley, this is so not it. Women don’t ‘have to be gay’ because they ‘can’t find a good person with a d*ck.’ Don’t use the queer community as a stop-gap because you couldn’t find a boyfriend. People aren’t queer because they ‘gave up’ on men. This is so insulting,” one Twitter user wrote.

The controversial comments also appeared to be a thinly veiled criticism of ex-husband Liam Hemsworth, who she announced her separation from over the summer.

It’s not the first time Cyrus and Simpson have made waves on social media. Last week, fans cringed when Simpson shared a photo of him and Cyrus, who had her hand creeping down the front of his underwear — made worse by the fact that Simpson’s mother reposted the photo, captioning it “cheeky buggers” and adding a playful finger wagging emoji to her Instagram Story.

The mother of three has previously expressed how happy she is that her son and Cyrus are hitting it off.

“Puts a smile on my dial to see you both so blissfully happy,” she previously captioned a photo of the two hugging on her own Instagram. “Hearing your laughs and seeing the smiles on your faces lights up my heart #happyforyouguys #beautifullsoul.”

Cyrus has been getting a lot of speculation about her romantic life amid her divorce from Hemsworth, which she announced just hours before photos surfaced of her and Kaitlynn Carter kissing during an Italian vacation. The two dated for around a month before their split. Shortly after, Cyrus started dating Simpson.

Cyrus warned her followers not to think that they know exactly what’s going on inside her head during her healing process.

“I know the public feels invested in my past relationship because they felt like they saw it thru (sic) from the beginning…. I think that’s why people have always felt so entitled over my life and how I live it because they’ve watched me grow up…. but I am grown now and make choices as an adult knowing the truth/details/reality,” she wrote in a lengthy Twitter note. “People only ‘know’ what they see on the internet.”

Calling out the double standard for men who move on in new relationships, Cyrus said she wouldn’t be toning down her love life for public perception.

“I have a great life. I wouldn’t trade for ‘privacy,’ but PLEASE don’t make this awkward for me!” she wrote. “I am trying to make light and like always MAKE FUN of myself/and the public’s perception of me! Get used to me dating – this is where I am at!”