Miley Cyrus Calls Out Mom Tish Cyrus Over Her Controversial Pole Dance at 16

Miley Cyrus says it was never her idea to perform at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards with a stripper pole as a prop. The Disney Channel alum says it was all her mom Tish Cyrus’ doing. At the time of the performance, Miley was just 16 and it caused much backlash. 

The revelation came during a chat with her sister Brandi Cyrus for Spotify’s Billions Club series where she spoke about the controversial performance of her hit single, “Party In the USA.” “This is going to be no surprise to you. Do you know whose idea that was?” Miley asked Brandi, 37, who then guessed that their mom was responsible. Miley explained, “Yup, that was my mom’s idea. So she always lets me take the blame,” she continued, “When I got in trouble the next day, you know who was nowhere to be found? Tish Cyrus.” During the performance, Miley was dressed in shorts, black boots, and a tank. Viewers believed the performance was inappropriate and sexual in nature.

“The thing that I remember most about that performance was it was the first time I ever wore real diamond jewelry on stage,” Miley added. She then quipped: “So you guys remember a little old ice cream truck, I remember the diamonds.”

It’s not the first time she’s spoken about the performance. She opened up about it in a previous TikTok video, per PEOPLE. “I had cut ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ and I was doing my first performance for the Teen Choice Awards. My mom was like, ‘I think it’d be really cool if she was in the trailer park, that’s where we really do come from,’” she said in the clip. 

“So, apparently me dancing on an ice cream cart with a stripper pole, but it wasn’t a stripper pole, it was actually just for stability. I had a heel on! Like what did you want from me?” she added. “Was I really gonna do my performance without dancing on top of an ice cream cart?”