Miley Cyrus has quietly reflected on her past feud with the late Sinéad O’Connor in an interview. The popstar candidly acknowledged her lack of awareness regarding O’Connor’s mental health struggles and expressed regret for her past comments.
O’Connor penned an open letter to Miley, concerned that she was being exploited by the music industry. Cyrus responded by making fun of several tweets O’Connor had posted and comparing her to Amanda Bynes, who was publicly experiencing mental health struggles. The Irish singer sadly passed away earlier this year at just 56 years old.
“I was unwell and seeking help,” responded O’Connor in additional open letters following Miley Cyrus’ comments. “It is not acceptable to mock any person for having suffered.”
Sinéad O’Connor has suffered ups and downs in the industry, most famously being banned from NBC after ripping up a photo of the pope on Saturday Night Live.
What Started The Feud Between Miley Cyrus And Sinead O’Connor?
Via: YouTube
The feud between Miley Cyrus and Sinead O’Connor started in 2013 when Miley released her music video for ‘Wrecking Ball’. The Hannah Montana star compared her ‘Wrecking Ball’ music video to O’Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ clip in a Rolling Stone interview.
O’Connor wrote an open letter to a then-20-year-old Cyrus, expressing concerns about exploitation in the music industry and suggesting that Cyrus’ decision to embrace a raunchier image undermined her talent.
In the letter, the late star warned Cyrus about the downside of fame. She stated that she was writing the letter in the “spirit of motherliness and with love” whilst issuing a stark warning that “nothing but harm will come in the long run from allowing yourself to be exploited.”
“I am extremely concerned for you that those around you have led you to believe, or encouraged you in your own belief, that it is in any way ‘cool’ to be naked and licking sledgehammers in your videos,” wrote O’Connor in the open letter. “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.”
“It is absolutely NOT in ANY way an empowerment of yourself or any other young women, for you to send across the message that you are to be valued (even by you) more for your sexual appeal than your obvious talent.”
How Miley Cyrus Feels About Her Sinead O’Connor Feud
During the ABC Special titled Endless Summer Vacation: Continued (Backyard Sessions), Miley Cyrus reflected on the feud a decade later.
“At the time when I made ‘Wrecking Ball’, I was expecting for there to be controversy and backlash, but I don’t think I expected other women to put me down or turn on me, especially women that had been in my position before,” the 30-year-old star reflected.
“All that I saw was that another woman had told me that this idea was not my idea, and even if I was convinced that it was, it was still just men in power’s idea of me, and they had manipulated me to believe that it was my own idea when it never really was,” she explained.
She noted that “younger childhood triggers and traumas” come up in “weird and odd ways”, before adding “I think I had just been judged for so long for my own choices that I was just exhausted.”
“I was in this place where I finally was making my own choices and my own decisions, and to have that taken away from me deeply upset me.”
Did Miley Cyrus Mock Sinead O’Connor’s Mental Health?
Via Instar Images
Sinéad O’Connor threatened to sue the American singer after she publicly mocked her in a series of Twitter posts and likened her to the actor Amanda Bynes.
Miley Cyrus also reminded her social media followers of O’Connor’s past by posting a picture of the singer tearing up a photo of John Paul II. She also posted screenshots of tweets sent by the Irish singer when she had asked her followers to recommend a psychiatrist.
Cyrus responded to the letter with, “Sinéad. I don’t have time to write you an open letter cause I’m hosting & performing on SNL this week. So if you’d like to meet up and talk lemme know in your next letter.”
O’Connor took to her Facebook to accuse Cyrus of “stupid and dangerous” behavior and threatened to take legal action if she did not apologize publicly or remove the posts. “I have no interest whatsoever in meeting you. You had plenty of time yesterday to abuse Amanda Bynes … an entirely innocent party … and myself … who also did nothing to deserve your abuse,” the Irish singer posted.
She also had harsh words for Cyrus’ posts in regard to her and Amanda Bynes. “Mockery causes deaths. Period. It is an unacceptable form of bullying, no matter who is doing the bullying.”
Miley Cyrus Was Unaware Of Sinead O’Connor’s Mental Health Issues
Via Splash Photos
Sinéad O’Connor has famously struggled with her mental health throughout her career. Sinéad had openly talked about living with bipolar, discussing it in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2007 when she described herself as a “work in progress” since her diagnosis four years prior.
Throughout her career, she has spoken up about being abused by her mother as a child, her post-traumatic stress syndrome and borderline personality disorder. She tried to take her own life more life than once and lost her son to suicide in 2022.
She spoke up about those mocking the mental health of others “I really feel the use of the word ‘crazy,’ or associated words as terms of abuse, should become a crime punishable by imprisonment,” O’Connor told People in 2022. “We need to be compassionate and gentle toward those of our brothers and sisters who have been hurt and are wounded and fragile, while also strong and alive. We should not mock those who are brave enough to show their wounds.”
Miley Cyrus explained, in regard to O’Connor, “I had no idea about the fragile mental state that she was in, and I was also only 20 years old. So I could really only wrap my head around mental illness so much, and all that I saw was that another woman had told me that this idea was not my idea.”
“God bless Sinéad O’Connor for real, in all seriousness,” Miley concluded in the segment, before performing her song ‘Wonder Woman”‘ and dedicating it to the late singer.
