Miley Cyrus recalls being body-shamed after 2013 MTV VMAs: 'Memes can just be so hurtful'

Miley Cyrus discusses body-shaming during a live-streamed conversation with fellow singer Demi Lovato

Miley Cyrus has opened up about being body-shamed following the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, stating that she did not wear a bikini for two years due to the hurtful comments she received.

This week, Cyrus launched an Instagram Live series called Bright Minded: Live With Miley, which involves her taking part in live-streamed interviews with a series of high-profile guests.

The series, the singer wrote on Instagram, will see her and her guests talk about “how to stay LIT with love in dark times” as people practise social distancing and self-isolation amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday 18 March, Cyrus was joined by fellow singer Demi Lovato on the series, both of whom starred in Disney television shows as teenagers.

During their discussion, the pair touched upon body image, with Cyrus stressing the impact body-shaming had on her seven years ago.

“I basically went through two or three years when I wouldn’t wear shorts, I stopped wearing skirts on stage all this s*** because after the VMAs, and I had on my cute little nude bodysuit, everyone started comparing me to a turkey,” Cyrus said, prompting a shocked expression to dawn on Lovato’s face.

During the awards show, Cyrus performed on stage alongside singer Robin Thicke wearing a nude latex bralet and knicker shorts.

The “Mother Daughter” singer said that she received insulting remarks for being “so skinny and so pasty”, which caused her to feel “so bad” in her own skin.

“I was feeling so bad in myself that I did not wear a bikini for like two years,” the 27-year-old stated.

“Memes can be so much fun but they can also just be so hurtful, because they’re meant to be funny but when they’re about you they are just so not funny.”

Cyrus said that the body-shaming she experienced spurred her on to use her global platform “for a bigger purpose”, resulting in her launching a non-profit organisation called The Happy Hippie Foundation.

“I was probably 21 and I was just starting to understand myself as an independent person,” she said. “It was just really really hurtful to be so body-shamed like that.”

The singer explained that as her “brand has always been about being so unapologetically myself and being confident”, she didn’t want to seem like a “fraud” to her fans for feeling insecure.

During their conversation, Lovato also spoke about her relationship with her body, saying that as a young teen in the entertainment industry she “didn’t have anybody in young Hollywood to look up to at that time that had a normal body”.

“I remember being 12 years old, my body started changing, obviously, that’s what happens when you’re a preteen and you’re going through puberty,” Lovato said.

“I kind of made a vow to myself that was just like, when I get older, I just want to represent what I didn’t have.”

Lovato added that she wanted to be that person for her little sister, who is nine years younger than her.