Miley Cyrus Gives a Shoutout to Liam Hemsworth With ‘Malibu’ Tribute

Miley Cyrus is looking back on writing her hit song “Malibu” four years after its release, reflecting on her relationship with ex-husband Liam Hemsworth and the Malibu house the two lost in the 2018 California wildfires. The singer, 28, took to Instagram Tuesday to share footage of herself writing the song in her home studio, which she paired with a thoughtful caption referencing the loss of her relationship and home.

“Today is the 4 year anniversary of Malibu. A song about a place and person that at the time I loved very much,” Cyrus wrote. “That love was reciprocated beyond what I could describe here with freedom & escapism. I lost that home along with many others in 2018. Here is a video of me writing it in my home studio.”

Cyrus and Hemsworth, 31, would marry privately just a few weeks after their home was destroyed in the wildfires but would split just a few months later in 2019. The “Midnight Sky” singer shared in a SiriusXM interview in August 2020 that the split was “traumatic,” especially after the two leaned on each other following the loss of their home. “For me, to be able to have a good clear understanding of the last two years, which there was some traumatic experiences, losing the house in Malibu and going through a really public breakup — I think I just really needed some clarity. It was just really important to me to be able to like really sit with my thoughts,” Cyrus explained.

Spending time alone with her thoughts during the pandemic lockdown, Cyrus said she had been “cleaning out” things emotionally she had been “holding onto for too long — things that belong to you, and things that don’t, and things that no longer serve you.”

She later shared on The Joe Rogan Experience in September that she could accept the realization that she and Hemsworth no longer “love each other the way that we used to,” but struggled with the media cycle surrounding their split and her subsequent relationship with Kaitlynn Carter. “It’s just amazing to me that the public kind of thinks that there is no gap in time that they didn’t see that could possibly be what led to this,” Cyrus said. “Like, it’s not, ‘One day you were happy on the carpet, and the next you’re making out with your friend in Italy,’ what the f—? Well, there was a lot of time between that you didn’t see.”