Miley Cyrus has hit back at the “clickbait” video criticising her for not singing every word and being fully present at her first concert in four years.
The Flowers hitmaker returned to the stage on Friday (16.10.26) for the first of two shows at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
The performance led to chatter online about Miley not appearing to be fully invested – but she insists that’s far from the truth.
Speaking to the crowd at her final show at the venue on Sunday night (18.10.26), she said: “I’ve never heard that I don’t put my heart into something.
“I don’t know if any of you heard that.
“That somebody was doing commentary to get clickbait on their video talking about my show on Friday night, but I’m a lot of things and we’re not even going to entertain that.”
Miley admitted there was a period when she thrived on “controversy”, but said she wasn’t actually “enjoying life” during that time.
She continued: “And the controversy, it used to be a lot of fun.
“It still can be. I can be pretty melted. I love that about me. I actually used to live my life pretty hard. Because life’s hard so I thought I had to get hard. … But, you know, I didn’t enjoy my life as much when I was living hard. I love pouring myself into something.”
The Midnight Sky singer said it took a lot for her to step back onstage, admitting she almost let the fear stop her altogether.
She admitted: “It is hard for me to stand up here and do this show.
“It does not come as natural as it once did to be before. Because, like all of us, we change, we evolve, we grow, and we find what gets to come with us. What continues to fit.”
The 33-year-old singer went on: “This is an experience for me. And you all make the experience possible. [This is] the only way I get to test my personal boundaries, my limits, what I think I can do.”
Doubling down on her promise to always give her absolute best, she added: “I can take a lot, but one thing I will not stand is any question about where my heart is when I’m on the stage. Not one. I am fully present.”
Elsewhere, while performing Bass Persuades, Miley poked fun at the criticism and joked: “Oh I forgot, I’m supposed to sing every f****** word.”