All fathers want to protect their daughters, but they eventually have to accept that their little girl isn't little anymore.
The Disney show Hannah Montana, which gave a launchpad to Miley Cyrus and made her famous across the world, may have also had deep negative repercussions on her family, that's what her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, believes. The father-of-six, an award-winning musician himself, and his famous daughter have had some troubles over the years. Like any dad, he had a hard time coping with his little girl growing up, but he's come to accept her for who she is.
The dad is also insistent that he never made any money off of his daughter even though he played the character of his manager on the children's show. One of the biggest scandals that had hit Miley was photos of her smoking a bong on her 18th birthday, which was held at a bar, he told GQ in an interview. He never endorsed this behavior but couldn't stop her either since there were others involved in handling her career and personal life.
"You know what, there's no doubt I did stuff when I was a teenager that I'm sure could have turned out horribly," he said. "I've done some stupid crap — I do stupid crap. We all do. But it's different when you sit back and you see it happening to your little girl. I feel like I got to try. It's my daughter. And some of these handlers are perhaps more interested in handling Miley's money than her safety and her career."
Billy thinks he could have been a better father to Miley. "I almost feel a little bit bad as a daddy saying it, but I've always been a better friend to Miley than I have been a daddy," Billy told ET.
But, in recent years, their relationship seems to be on the mend. He was been more supportive and so has she. After her 2013 controversial appearance at MTV's Video Music Awards, her father defended her actions and called her "real."
"She's just Miley," Billy told CNN. "She's an artist. She's real. I think that what's happened over the years, Miley has been reinventing her sound. She's evolving as an artist herself. I think that all of what everyone is calling controversy now, that's still my Miley," he said.
He had offered to officiate her wedding to Liam Hemsworth in 2016, and later in 2019 when the pair broke up he supported his daughter's decision. He confirmed that she was happy after they split and as a father, he was happy for her.
"That’s when I saw Miley being so happy," he said, according to Huffpost. "Somewhere along the stress and strain of different things I didn’t see her smiling as often for a little while and, all of a sudden she’s like the sun… Everything happens for a reason and the main thing for me, as Miley’s daddy, is she’s happy."
In 2020, she congratulated him for his double win at the Grammy awards. "Congrats to my dad @billyraycyrus and baby brother @lilnasx on their 2 Grammy awards!!!!!!" she said on Instagram, according to Music-news. However, she had not been present in person as she wasn't invited, she claimed.
In February 2020, Billy seems to have come to terms with the Disney show that gave a second wind to his career and launched his daughter. He told Hollywood Life that a prequel to the Hannah Montana show was in the works and he would do it in a heartbeat.
"They’re talking about doing a prequel, which to me, I would do that in a heartbeat," Billy, 58, said. "Because that means I get to get my mullet back."
We are yet to find out if that would mean that the father-daughter duo would feature in it again or not. But, working together aside, they are in a lot less rocky phase than earlier.
References:
https://www.music-news.com/news/UK/128303/Miley-Cyrus-congratulates-dad-Billy-Ray-Cyrus-on-2020-Grammy-Awards-win
https://hollywoodlife.com/2020/01/31/billy-ray-cyrus-hannah-montana-prequel-would-do-it/
https://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/19/showbiz/billy-ray-cyrus-interview/index.html
https://www.gq.com/story/billy-ray-cyrus-mr-hannah-montana-miley?currentPage=1
https://www.etonline.com/news/132769_Billy_Ray_Cyrus_on_His_Relationship_with_Miley_Cyrus
https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/what-billy-ray-cyrus-has-to-say-about-mileys-split-from-liam-hemsworth_n_5b508f9be4b0169b6e70b32c?ri18n=true
