Miley Cyrus performs at IHeartRadio Music Village in Las Vegas, Nev. She is also set to host and perform on NBC’s Saturday Night Live this week.Powers Imagery/The Associated Press
Miley Cyrus doesn't need a mentor, thanks. That's one conclusion to draw from Cyrus' rebuttal to an open letter from singer Sinead O'Connor, which questions the Irish singer's mental health.
It started when Cyrus name-checked singer Sinead O'Connor as an influence in a recent Rolling Stone interview.
O'Connor then released an open letter to Cyrus saying, essentially, no thanks for comparing Cyrus' nude Wrecking Ball video to O'Connor's Nothing Compares.
Sure, both bald or baldish women start their video odes to lost relationships with a stark close up, but O'Connor calls out Cyrus for allowing herself to be exploited by the music biz by swinging naked on that wrecking ball and spending the whole video looking uber-lusty.
O'Connor says she wasn't going to comment but so many folks were hounding her for her thoughts, she felt she would control her message instead. (It almost makes me forgive her for using the overused and endlessly mockable "Open letter" format. Almost.)
"I am happy to hear I am somewhat of a role model for you and I hope that because of that you will pay close attention to what I am telling you," writes the Irish singer.
O'Connor's main point is this:
"The music business doesn't give a sh– about you, or any of us. They will prostitute you for all you are worth, and cleverly make you think its what YOU wanted.. and when you end up in rehab as a result of being prostituted, 'they' will be sunning themselves on their yachts in Antigua, which they bought by selling your body and you will find yourself very alone."
To which Cyrus – assuming her confirmed account is real – took to Twitter and posted "Before Amanda Bynes… There was…" with a screenshot of Twitter posts about being mentally ill taken from a Twitter feed with O'Connor's name on it (but with the curious handle @vampyahslayah)
It looks like that account was a temporary fake, but Cyrus is nonetheless mocking O'Connor's mental state with references to troubled young star Amanda Bynes and those impersonated tweets. But then again, Cyrus also posted a photo of the infamous Pope-ripping event on Saturday Night Live in 1992, which is a handy way to promote, wait for it, Cyrus' own SNL hosting gig this weekend.
So, a very public throw-down about the role of women in the music business, or a circuitous promo for an upcoming TV gig? Neither? Or both? I can't compute.