What happened between Miley Cyrus and Sinead O’Connor? Hannah Montana alum expresses regret over beef with the late singer

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Miley Cyrus expresses regret over Sinnead O'Connor beef (image via Getty)

In 2013, Sinead O'Connor was not happy with comparisons of Miley Cyrus' song, Wrecking Ball, to her own Nothing Compares 2 U and drafted a scathing open letter to the singer.

After more than a decade of their public feud, Miley, during a recent conversation with The New York Times, expressed regret for the spat and for hurting O'Connor by responding in allegedly offensive tweets at the time. Her words come almost two years after Sinéad O'Connor died on July 26, 2023.

Miley, in her recent interview, reflected on her response and said,

"I responded in a way that I would never as an adult, butthat was also an adult talking to a young person."

In 2013, Miley Cyrus released the iconic video for her track Wrecking Ball, where she can be seen stripping completely naked and straddling a bulldozer ball. A scene from the video showed a close-up of a tear rolling down the singer's face, which drew comparisons to O'Connor's iconic visuals in Nothing Compares 2 U.

At the time, Miley also told Rolling Stone that the song was a "modern version" of Connor's song. However, Connor was not impressed by the comparisons and wrote an open letter on her blog to Cyrus at the time, saying,

"I am extremely concerned for you that those around you have led you to believe, or encouraged you in your own belief, that is in any way 'cool' to be naked and licking sledgehammers in your video. It is in fact the case that you will obscure your talent by allowing yourself to be pimped, whether it's the music business or yourself doing the pimping."

Sinead also warned Miley Cyrus about the music industry and said that the music industry "doesn't give a s**t" about her or any of them and will "prostitute you for all you are worth." She then said that the industry would make her think that it was she who wanted to do things originally, which would eventually land her in rehab.

At the time, Cyrus took to X to respond and said that she doesn't "have the time" to write her an open letter since she's busy "hosting & performing on SNL."


"My experience was not that the music industry didn't care about me" - says Miley Cyrus

While reflecting on her public feud with Sinéad O'Connor, Miley said that she responded in a way that she would never have "as an adult."

At the time, Miley Cyrus had responded to Sinnead with mockery and compared her mental health struggles to Amanda Bynes, who was undergoing psychiatric treatment. She had also shared screenshots of Sinead's tweets seeking psychiatric help with the caption,

"Before there was Amanda Bunes...There was..."

Cyrus also said that she did not relate to O'Connor's experience of being in the music industry,

"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."

Miley Cyrus mentioned that she didn't feel exploited by the music industry as O'Connor did since her exposure to fame at a young age, from her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, and godmother, Dolly Parton.

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Edited by Debanjana