SO TRUE! When I was 23 YO (circa 2012) I had the blessing of working on a gardening crew w/ 3 other women that were each 40 YO. One of them once said to me, “I just wish there was a different way that young women would choose to emancipate themselves instead of sexually.” I totally didn’t get it at the time, being the age that I was, and sexuality being so prominent in pop culture in the early 2000s.
Meanwhile, my co-workers were teens in the 90s and had been exposed a lot more feminist thinking and pro-women media that weirdly missed my generation (for example, 90s female singer-songwriters that were replaced w/ over-sexualized pop and hip-hop stars). One of these gals bragged to me about how she wore a graphic print t-shirt in high school that said “Wear Condoms”, at a time when conversations about safe sex were akin to being an activist.
I think it’s twisted that while those gals were making (valid) points in their day about the need for sex education, and how they were seeking sexual equality in terms of societal judgment, MY generation didn’t give two thoughts or shits about any of it except how much fun we could have for ourselves. Sex became a consumption act; apps like Tinder have made that an into easy reality if you so desire. No shade, but it’s certainly not for everyone. And I think a lot of us just blindly rushed into our sexual experiences and kept going bc there were no strong feminine voices in our era to model true value in women beyond what sexual entertainment they offered.
It’s not surprising at all to me that Sinead was so affronted by Miley’s music video, and that to her it was such an urgent matter. As a 34 years old, I can truly say now: I get it. & It’s CRYSTAL CLEAR that a young woman being naked and licking a metal tool on camera for the world to see IS exploitation.
At the very same time I can sort of still remember my bat-shit 20-something brain.... She was busy living life and having a lot of new experiences. And sometimes when you’re in that mode.... it’s not really that deep, ya know? You just do shit cuz you’ve never done it before. [And yep, this is the perfect but worst time for an opportunist to be suggestive around you for their gain]. This is what I imagine Miley’s frame of mind must of been at the time of the feud. It would be pretty hard for her to see herself as someone being exploited when she’s just feeling care free and consciously experimental.
Such a great article, thank you for all the though provocation!!
I think you are so correct, I am in my 50's and watched how the feminism of Sinead and Alannis got co-opted by the music industry and morphed into this overt-sexualization as empowerment bananas. It happened at the same time that selling out no longer was a dirty word as everyone and everything became a brand. It's disheartening to see how the more power women get the more sexualized and pornofied Main Street culture becomes so now 13 year olds take selfies of themselves pouting like pornstars. No matter how much we fight the appeal of being attractive/ sexy is so ingrained it makes women so easily manipulated. When you are young you don't know that what you like to wear is part of a bigger story. You just want to be cool and like your friends, you really can't fathom that the jeans shorts that expose half your butt are making much older men lear at you and sexualizing you before you even understand your own sexuality. It's crazy to me how "naked" women fashion leaves girls are these days.
I feel Britney would have been more open to it than Miley was. It’s terribly sad how Miley used Sinèad as ‘inspiration’ whilst missing the point of Sinèad’s art entirely and then went on to abuse, mock & laugh at Sinèad and mental health sufferers...I now think Miley is not much more than an entitled unpleasant spoilt bully brat.
THIS ^^^^ exactly. Shameful of Cyrus. She lost my respect then and shall never gain it back. She wasn’t worthy of sineads very real and heartfelt advice.
I agree entirely. My heart breaks for Sinèad that she went thru public bullying & shaming at the hands of Miley in response to a generous, kind and heartfelt gesture from Sinèad 💔
I agree that BRITNEY would’ve been more open to it. BUT the people she was surrounded with wouldn’t have allowed her to react the way she wanted. Miley was able to react the way she felt. Britney was never allowed that choice.
Miley reacted the way any normal, defiant, adolescent would react. She was able to express her feelings and emotions even if we didn’t agree with them. Britney was forced to be polite and remorseful even when she didn’t need to be.
I’m not saying Miley was right in what she said and how she reacted. But at least she was able to say how she felt, even if it came with criticism.
I do agree with you - there was a difference in the teams around Miley & Britney, just as you say. However I think it’s important to note that Britneys nature is fundamentally sweet whilst Miley’s nature is not, which perhaps enabled the different approaches of their teams. Also I feel it important to call a spade a spade - Miley’s attempt to badly rip off Sinèad whilst missing the entire point of Sinèad’s art (insulting in itself), advertise the fact, then when in receipt of Sinèad’s heartfelt letter sent in response to the aforementioned to publicly mock, shame & humiliate Sinèad as your rebuttal, is just despicable bullying & entitlement gone stratospheric. Miley showed herself to be a deeply unpleasant & spiteful low life, sadly for all.
Britney’s manager of 20 years, Larry Rudolph is the one who did Miley’s 2013 transition to an “adult star“. Larry used his own daughter as a pretense of getting to Miley right before she was at that transitional phase. It comes down to having anyone around you that cares about you more than money. There is another child star, Carly Rose that said Larry told her they literally had to “give her” to Larry if she wanted to be a star. Her parents talked to her about it and they did not do it. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Crq-CHRrhk8/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
My infuriation comes from Miley STILL being too young to hear the love and help Sinead offered. Instead Miley attacked and dismissed her. The older we get the more we see the same thing play out again and again. Maybe it’s about women’s bodies...maybe it’s about social issues...but the young rarely listen. I know I didn’t.
The young haven’t lived long enough to look back at mistakes and be humbled by them. To be wealthy and fawned over will make it even harder to become teachable, because there’s an army set up to enable you, until you’re no longer a profitable host for all the parasites
It's quite beautiful that Sinead had taken such care to write this heartfelt letter. Sound advice from a wise and troubled soul. Saw her in concert in 1990, she was an outstanding performer!
An incredible letter written out of total care and compassion. And of course I thought of Britney right away. She should read this letter! So many young women are ready and willing to sell themselves with sexual tones and never realize that they should not have to. I have a cousin who always needs validation that she is beautiful, and will bare it all to prove it. Men taught us this...because men want it. Now I am not a man hater - I am married to one after all and actually wanted validation in the same way back them. What Sinead understood at a younger age was remarkable, and saying that makes me sad because we need to teach our sons and daughters better in this regard. This is beyond the normal hormone thing. Thank you Jessica. More new respect for Sinead, as I did not even know about this.
Sinèad - bang on as per usual. She was a generous, kind, fiercely strong & enormously fragile woman and to have taken the time to pen this truly heartfelt letter to Miley brings tears to my eyes. Did Miley take heed? Possibly she will in time. Honestly, for Miley to say she based her Wrecking Ball video on Sinèad’s Nothing Compares video is frankly an insult...let alone to say she based her look on Sinèad. As Sinèad kindly points out here their looks were entirely different and with entirely different motives. I’m almost nervous to read Mileys response & the feud for fear of getting upset. Sinèad had a heart of gold. Rest easy, Sinèad xxxxxx
Crazy how normalized exploiting women’s sexuality is. Amazing Sinead always saw it. Jewel wouldn’t do it and neither does an Adele. Such a great post! TY
Sep 3, 2023·edited Sep 3, 2023Liked by Jessica Reed Kraus
Sinéad was right and remains right about everything stated here. I remmeber when this happened and played out in real time and the disgusting, low and classless way Miley responded by mocking Sineads mental health amongst other things in public. Sinead should never have been as generous and kind as she was toward Miley in this letter, Miley didn’t and does not deserve it.
I miss you terribly, darling Sinéad O’Connor ❤️ nothing compared to HER
I agree and have said much the same. Brings tears to my eyes learning how Miley responded to and abused Sinèad publicly and never apologised. Miley is complicit in the abuse & partakes in abuse herself, of mentally ill people and is proud of the fact. She would do the opposite if it was anyone from the LGBTQ community. Poor Sinèad gave Miley so much and Miley in return publicly kicked her in the teeth & laughed. What a vile bully. Breaks my heart.
I agrée, Rosanna…I followed the links Jessica provided to refresh my memory and was reminded of her 4 attempts at harmony, essentially. Even in the 4th final open letter - she still chooses to not answer back with hate or a feud - she even denounces the word feud. She refuses to engage in such a silly thing. Which Miley is doing nothing but bullying and attempting to engage in a public mockery of her and other stars she dragged into this (like Bynes). It broke my heart to revisit that. Yet again, JRK is saying and sharing what no other MSM outlet covers or even bothered to call out during her death announcements in July… Frankly, revisiting it only looks worse for Miley, and reaffirms everything I have always believed about sinead since I was a little girl… that she was a truthful, genuine, raw human being who cut herself wide open with no apologies. She was always right. And look how the world treated her. Look how a young woman who rips off the aesthetic but not the essence of the NC2U video treated her…. It’s truly so gross. Lizzo is getting dragged in the dirt over allegations (not comparing them - I don’t know much about lizzo ) of bullying - yet not a single outlet has brought Miley’s actions and mean girl words back into the spotlight? It sure warrants a discussion.
So glad JRK has opened up the space for us to discus here.
I absolutely agree with all you say and May I add that you have put it so eloquently. I’m truly heartbroken revisiting Miley’s treatment of Sinèad. It’s so abhorrent. Miley attempted (badly) to rip Sinèad off (which was an insult in itself), advertised the fact in Rolling Stone & received a gracious heartfelt thoughtful letter from Sinèad. Miley then publicly shamed & mocked Sinèad for having mental health issues, shamed Bynes too just for good measure, as her ‘rebuttal’. I cannot believe the media let her get away with that. If she had mocked & shamed a trans person for struggling mentally & asking for help, she would have been vilified and cancelled and with no return, ever. Apparently it’s ok to vilify, mock & shame a woman asking for help which could and indeed probably did contribute to Sinèad’s ultimate demise. I just can’t deal with the injustice and this woman, Miley, continues unchecked.
Rosanna, 100 percent !! You have totally pointed out the thing I missed here which is that it is evidently Okay for one woman to undermine and mock another in the public space so long as they are both women! You make such a solid point here. It’s honestly revelatory and quite telling about the society we live in today… the idea that this young woman responded so terribly - in a public mockery - and got away with it.. because she was a young, beautiful woman… I reckon because her target was a middle aged woman already deemed “crazy” Miley suffered no consequence and her behavior frankly warrants an explanation we will not get. I have been so disappointed by the outpouring of support since sineads death but Miley is nowhere to be found? She idolizes her (aka rips her off with that trash she made with PREDATOR TERRY RICHARDSON) then makes fun of her and then - the woman dies and she still has nothing to say as a self proclaimed “fan”? Honestly it makes my blood run cold. It’s really sad.
But I’ll never forget what she said to t sinead, who is now tragically gone, and neither will you - nor the many of us who DO remember. For what it’s worth… 💔💔💔
I love reading your response. Absolutely to all you say. We will never forget. Miley is forever soiled goods in my opinion, no better than a racist. I do think Miley’s disgusting treatment of Sinèad contributed in part to her ultimate demise at the very least. Just a tragedy at Miley’s hands that Miley had the power to stop but enjoyed it too much and so carried on. Just heartbroken for Sinèad and May she rest in peace now, darling girl 💔💔💔💔
Sinead was incapable of speaking anything but what was in her heart. She always paid the price! What an incredible letter. I want to print it out for my daughter. I love her little details "a diamond for his mistress" "sunning himself on a yatch in Anguilla" you know she knows of what she speaks.
I think Miley has always had support and a good head on her shoulders. Her new song and it’s subsequent TikTok series really shows how she’s reflected on these moments from her EARLY 20’s when everyone was offended by her sticking her tongue out and twerking and being young and hot. The difference I think is that she owned her sexuality and identity and has always been self aware with a supportive family. Sinead did not have that at all and had to find out the realities of the world all on her own. So she wrote that letter from a good place, Miley just didn’t get it.
I have never seen Miley as owning her sexuality- she has only ever appeared to me as yet another young girl stripping on stage whilst pretending to sing. It is only in recent months, quite literally, that I have been able to notice Miley’s voice & talent, proving Sinèad’s point in her heartfelt & honest letter. Miley has been mislead into using her sexuality to sell - it has worked to a degree as she sold well - but it totally masked her talent. Whereas Sinèad, right from age 18, refused to wear short skirts, lots of make up & grow her hair long as demanded by her record label. Instead she shaved her head to show them where they can shove it. That’s true rock and roll punk feminist spirit. Miley doesn’t have that & this didn’t even get Sinèad’s letter to her own detriment sadly
Sigh. Miley’s *been* singing. Just cause you didn’t like her voice or pay attention until now doesn’t mean she hasn’t always been clear about who she is. You don’t think her entire family of singers had any advice regarding “selling your body” in the music industry? Lol
You’re missing both mine & Sinèad’s point - Miley’s overt sexualisation hid her music & voice for many, me included, because we saw & see yet another girl stripping on stage with a mic and frankly cannot be bothered to listen to her nor engage at all because it is prosaic, predictable, has been done by many before & many concurrently & therefore we are not interested in being further bored with yet more repetitive drivel. Miley doesn’t realise that hence her despicable response to Sinèad’s heartfelt & caring letter. Miley’s family may or may not have advised her either way - none if us know & it is not relevant in any case. Miley fully signed up to sell her body, did and does so with full commitment thus turning millions away from her voice & music. Miley’s shaming & bullying of Sinèad on the global public stage in response to Sinèad’s kind heartfelt gracious letter is and was despicable. Sinèad only wrote her that letter because spoilt brat Miley attempted to rip off Sinèad’s image, music & art, did it incredibly badly whilst missing the point entirely of Sinèad’s image & work, and advertised the fact in Rolling Stone, which in itself was a insult to Sinèad from the get go. Sinèad responded in kind and got a public shaming & kick in the teeth in response. No wonder Miley was the type ready to sell herself & go to any lengths - she would go on to throw Sinèad under the bus having poorly attempted to rip her off. I’m glad you like Miley’s voice & music. She has a good voice with a lovely lower register. It’s a shame she’s got no originality, tries to rip real artists off & simultaneously mocks & humiliates them globally. Miley should be cancelled & vilified for bullying & encouraging further bullying & pile ons simply because someone has mental health fragilities. Disgusting beast.
Lmao girl what rock do you live under? She has and had millions of fans deeply affected by her music then, and since. Booty shaking and bullying and all. I’m sure you never heard or seen someone fuck up taking advice when you were 21. Nice tirade though!
If Miley chose to ‘use’ Sineads name and credit her as inspiration then it would have been a good idea to know what Sinead was about as a person and musician and have respect for her history .
I believe this is a true statement! A family friend of mine wrote a handful of songs with Miley during her Hannah Montana years and says he remembers being in a room with her and her parents and Disney execs and she would sit on the execs laps and he saw her leave with one. What happens after who knows but it’s definitely suspect when she was in her teens at that time and her parents seemed to condone it. He made it seem like everyone in the industry was aware of how her parents pimped her out.
That's quite an accusation. If your family friend saw it with their own eyes they should have reported it. Otherwise it is a harmful gossip damaging to everyone involved. Disgusting if it'd happened, disgusting if it'd not.
As I said what happens after they left is up for speculation. Can’t really report her sitting on someone’s lap especially when there’s videos of her around that time literally grinding a movie producer and no one did anything about it. Just because it wasn’t reported does not mean it did not happen. Just supporting what others and Sinead have said, that she was being taken advantage of.
I remember reading this letter when it was published and I thought that this letter should be read by every young woman, and woman in the music industry so that they understand that their thinking of "girl power" or that it is "feminism" in some way to take away your clothing and sexualizing each song and performance is a lie that is told to allow themselves to be exploited by an industry run by men, quite the opposite. Miley's response to this letter is from a rude and spoiled person (typical of a girl who thinks that because she has been in the industry since she was a little girl she knows everything). Sorry to disappoint anyone here who likes miley or her music, but she is a hypocrite, she was and still is. Not only did she wait 10 years and Sinead's death to talk about it and say that she "didn't know the state of mind she was in", seriously?? you did not know? I knew it, the rest of her fans knew it, the media knew it and even people who weren't fans knew everything they did to her and what she experienced in her life. You cut your hair for her supposedly because you admired her, and you didn't know anything about her? Miley even today she is still a pop product and she still acts the way Sinead told her she was going to be a slave to the men in the industry, she still praises disney when we all know what happens in disney. She puts out a little song about how "she used to be young and crazy and wild and all those things you think I am" All those things she's done was to generate controversy and attention, great it worked! there is nothing real in something prepared just for her to say ""hey, look at me, I'm a woman, I do what I want with my body and I behave like an idiot so that you can talk about me" Sinead was a beautiful wise human being a person who suffered until the last day of her life. A person who always said things that made others feel uncomfortable because they were truths that most ignored or believed were conspiracies because they were not on their TV . She spoke about wars, the destruction they left millions without a home, family and forced them to leave their country to survive. She talked about supporting Palestine, Syria and all the countries that were being bombed by Israel and the US. She spoke and denounced the abuse of minors by the Catholic Church, without ceasing to be a religious woman, she spoke and denounced the music industry, she defended the rights of women and children everywhere. She never stopped saying what she thought no matter how much the media and other people labeled her as "troublesome". There is only one Sinead, there are thousands of Mileys
If I were Miley, I would have each page of that letter blown up, framed, and hung on my wall. That way she could see it every day and think of Sinead , think of her words, and heed them. Then pay it forward for other young women in the public eye...
THAT would be the best tribute she could pay to Sinead.
Wow. What an incredible letter! This is a sermon every woman should read.
Seriously. While reading I was thinking that I wish someone would’ve told me all this when I was a young girl.
Same!
This can be so hard to grasp even as a woman past her 20’s. This is the capital we are socialized we have as women
Yes. I was thinking the same thing.
SO TRUE! When I was 23 YO (circa 2012) I had the blessing of working on a gardening crew w/ 3 other women that were each 40 YO. One of them once said to me, “I just wish there was a different way that young women would choose to emancipate themselves instead of sexually.” I totally didn’t get it at the time, being the age that I was, and sexuality being so prominent in pop culture in the early 2000s.
Meanwhile, my co-workers were teens in the 90s and had been exposed a lot more feminist thinking and pro-women media that weirdly missed my generation (for example, 90s female singer-songwriters that were replaced w/ over-sexualized pop and hip-hop stars). One of these gals bragged to me about how she wore a graphic print t-shirt in high school that said “Wear Condoms”, at a time when conversations about safe sex were akin to being an activist.
I think it’s twisted that while those gals were making (valid) points in their day about the need for sex education, and how they were seeking sexual equality in terms of societal judgment, MY generation didn’t give two thoughts or shits about any of it except how much fun we could have for ourselves. Sex became a consumption act; apps like Tinder have made that an into easy reality if you so desire. No shade, but it’s certainly not for everyone. And I think a lot of us just blindly rushed into our sexual experiences and kept going bc there were no strong feminine voices in our era to model true value in women beyond what sexual entertainment they offered.
It’s not surprising at all to me that Sinead was so affronted by Miley’s music video, and that to her it was such an urgent matter. As a 34 years old, I can truly say now: I get it. & It’s CRYSTAL CLEAR that a young woman being naked and licking a metal tool on camera for the world to see IS exploitation.
At the very same time I can sort of still remember my bat-shit 20-something brain.... She was busy living life and having a lot of new experiences. And sometimes when you’re in that mode.... it’s not really that deep, ya know? You just do shit cuz you’ve never done it before. [And yep, this is the perfect but worst time for an opportunist to be suggestive around you for their gain]. This is what I imagine Miley’s frame of mind must of been at the time of the feud. It would be pretty hard for her to see herself as someone being exploited when she’s just feeling care free and consciously experimental.
Such a great article, thank you for all the though provocation!!
I think you are so correct, I am in my 50's and watched how the feminism of Sinead and Alannis got co-opted by the music industry and morphed into this overt-sexualization as empowerment bananas. It happened at the same time that selling out no longer was a dirty word as everyone and everything became a brand. It's disheartening to see how the more power women get the more sexualized and pornofied Main Street culture becomes so now 13 year olds take selfies of themselves pouting like pornstars. No matter how much we fight the appeal of being attractive/ sexy is so ingrained it makes women so easily manipulated. When you are young you don't know that what you like to wear is part of a bigger story. You just want to be cool and like your friends, you really can't fathom that the jeans shorts that expose half your butt are making much older men lear at you and sexualizing you before you even understand your own sexuality. It's crazy to me how "naked" women fashion leaves girls are these days.
👏🏻
This quote is so good... I honestly needed to read this letter for myself.
“If you have an innocent heart you can't recognise those who do not.”
This hit me so hard as well. I re-read it a few times while reading this article. Such a powerful truth
If only someone could’ve written this to Britney.
I feel Britney would have been more open to it than Miley was. It’s terribly sad how Miley used Sinèad as ‘inspiration’ whilst missing the point of Sinèad’s art entirely and then went on to abuse, mock & laugh at Sinèad and mental health sufferers...I now think Miley is not much more than an entitled unpleasant spoilt bully brat.
THIS ^^^^ exactly. Shameful of Cyrus. She lost my respect then and shall never gain it back. She wasn’t worthy of sineads very real and heartfelt advice.
I agree entirely. My heart breaks for Sinèad that she went thru public bullying & shaming at the hands of Miley in response to a generous, kind and heartfelt gesture from Sinèad 💔
I agree that BRITNEY would’ve been more open to it. BUT the people she was surrounded with wouldn’t have allowed her to react the way she wanted. Miley was able to react the way she felt. Britney was never allowed that choice.
Miley reacted the way any normal, defiant, adolescent would react. She was able to express her feelings and emotions even if we didn’t agree with them. Britney was forced to be polite and remorseful even when she didn’t need to be.
I’m not saying Miley was right in what she said and how she reacted. But at least she was able to say how she felt, even if it came with criticism.
I do agree with you - there was a difference in the teams around Miley & Britney, just as you say. However I think it’s important to note that Britneys nature is fundamentally sweet whilst Miley’s nature is not, which perhaps enabled the different approaches of their teams. Also I feel it important to call a spade a spade - Miley’s attempt to badly rip off Sinèad whilst missing the entire point of Sinèad’s art (insulting in itself), advertise the fact, then when in receipt of Sinèad’s heartfelt letter sent in response to the aforementioned to publicly mock, shame & humiliate Sinèad as your rebuttal, is just despicable bullying & entitlement gone stratospheric. Miley showed herself to be a deeply unpleasant & spiteful low life, sadly for all.
Yes it was perhaps wasted.
😔
Britney’s manager of 20 years, Larry Rudolph is the one who did Miley’s 2013 transition to an “adult star“. Larry used his own daughter as a pretense of getting to Miley right before she was at that transitional phase. It comes down to having anyone around you that cares about you more than money. There is another child star, Carly Rose that said Larry told her they literally had to “give her” to Larry if she wanted to be a star. Her parents talked to her about it and they did not do it. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Crq-CHRrhk8/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Thank you for sharing, this is fascinating. Miley & her family obvs we’re ready to fully sign up & hand over!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ch7oMGQDVJD/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I think this was written during Britney's conservatorship so I highly doubt she knows this letter exists. Her handlers would not want her to see this.
My infuriation comes from Miley STILL being too young to hear the love and help Sinead offered. Instead Miley attacked and dismissed her. The older we get the more we see the same thing play out again and again. Maybe it’s about women’s bodies...maybe it’s about social issues...but the young rarely listen. I know I didn’t.
The young haven’t lived long enough to look back at mistakes and be humbled by them. To be wealthy and fawned over will make it even harder to become teachable, because there’s an army set up to enable you, until you’re no longer a profitable host for all the parasites
It's quite beautiful that Sinead had taken such care to write this heartfelt letter. Sound advice from a wise and troubled soul. Saw her in concert in 1990, she was an outstanding performer!
An incredible letter written out of total care and compassion. And of course I thought of Britney right away. She should read this letter! So many young women are ready and willing to sell themselves with sexual tones and never realize that they should not have to. I have a cousin who always needs validation that she is beautiful, and will bare it all to prove it. Men taught us this...because men want it. Now I am not a man hater - I am married to one after all and actually wanted validation in the same way back them. What Sinead understood at a younger age was remarkable, and saying that makes me sad because we need to teach our sons and daughters better in this regard. This is beyond the normal hormone thing. Thank you Jessica. More new respect for Sinead, as I did not even know about this.
Sinèad - bang on as per usual. She was a generous, kind, fiercely strong & enormously fragile woman and to have taken the time to pen this truly heartfelt letter to Miley brings tears to my eyes. Did Miley take heed? Possibly she will in time. Honestly, for Miley to say she based her Wrecking Ball video on Sinèad’s Nothing Compares video is frankly an insult...let alone to say she based her look on Sinèad. As Sinèad kindly points out here their looks were entirely different and with entirely different motives. I’m almost nervous to read Mileys response & the feud for fear of getting upset. Sinèad had a heart of gold. Rest easy, Sinèad xxxxxx
Crazy how normalized exploiting women’s sexuality is. Amazing Sinead always saw it. Jewel wouldn’t do it and neither does an Adele. Such a great post! TY
Sinéad was right and remains right about everything stated here. I remmeber when this happened and played out in real time and the disgusting, low and classless way Miley responded by mocking Sineads mental health amongst other things in public. Sinead should never have been as generous and kind as she was toward Miley in this letter, Miley didn’t and does not deserve it.
I miss you terribly, darling Sinéad O’Connor ❤️ nothing compared to HER
I agree and have said much the same. Brings tears to my eyes learning how Miley responded to and abused Sinèad publicly and never apologised. Miley is complicit in the abuse & partakes in abuse herself, of mentally ill people and is proud of the fact. She would do the opposite if it was anyone from the LGBTQ community. Poor Sinèad gave Miley so much and Miley in return publicly kicked her in the teeth & laughed. What a vile bully. Breaks my heart.
I agrée, Rosanna…I followed the links Jessica provided to refresh my memory and was reminded of her 4 attempts at harmony, essentially. Even in the 4th final open letter - she still chooses to not answer back with hate or a feud - she even denounces the word feud. She refuses to engage in such a silly thing. Which Miley is doing nothing but bullying and attempting to engage in a public mockery of her and other stars she dragged into this (like Bynes). It broke my heart to revisit that. Yet again, JRK is saying and sharing what no other MSM outlet covers or even bothered to call out during her death announcements in July… Frankly, revisiting it only looks worse for Miley, and reaffirms everything I have always believed about sinead since I was a little girl… that she was a truthful, genuine, raw human being who cut herself wide open with no apologies. She was always right. And look how the world treated her. Look how a young woman who rips off the aesthetic but not the essence of the NC2U video treated her…. It’s truly so gross. Lizzo is getting dragged in the dirt over allegations (not comparing them - I don’t know much about lizzo ) of bullying - yet not a single outlet has brought Miley’s actions and mean girl words back into the spotlight? It sure warrants a discussion.
So glad JRK has opened up the space for us to discus here.
❤️❤️❤️
I absolutely agree with all you say and May I add that you have put it so eloquently. I’m truly heartbroken revisiting Miley’s treatment of Sinèad. It’s so abhorrent. Miley attempted (badly) to rip Sinèad off (which was an insult in itself), advertised the fact in Rolling Stone & received a gracious heartfelt thoughtful letter from Sinèad. Miley then publicly shamed & mocked Sinèad for having mental health issues, shamed Bynes too just for good measure, as her ‘rebuttal’. I cannot believe the media let her get away with that. If she had mocked & shamed a trans person for struggling mentally & asking for help, she would have been vilified and cancelled and with no return, ever. Apparently it’s ok to vilify, mock & shame a woman asking for help which could and indeed probably did contribute to Sinèad’s ultimate demise. I just can’t deal with the injustice and this woman, Miley, continues unchecked.
Rosanna, 100 percent !! You have totally pointed out the thing I missed here which is that it is evidently Okay for one woman to undermine and mock another in the public space so long as they are both women! You make such a solid point here. It’s honestly revelatory and quite telling about the society we live in today… the idea that this young woman responded so terribly - in a public mockery - and got away with it.. because she was a young, beautiful woman… I reckon because her target was a middle aged woman already deemed “crazy” Miley suffered no consequence and her behavior frankly warrants an explanation we will not get. I have been so disappointed by the outpouring of support since sineads death but Miley is nowhere to be found? She idolizes her (aka rips her off with that trash she made with PREDATOR TERRY RICHARDSON) then makes fun of her and then - the woman dies and she still has nothing to say as a self proclaimed “fan”? Honestly it makes my blood run cold. It’s really sad.
But I’ll never forget what she said to t sinead, who is now tragically gone, and neither will you - nor the many of us who DO remember. For what it’s worth… 💔💔💔
I love reading your response. Absolutely to all you say. We will never forget. Miley is forever soiled goods in my opinion, no better than a racist. I do think Miley’s disgusting treatment of Sinèad contributed in part to her ultimate demise at the very least. Just a tragedy at Miley’s hands that Miley had the power to stop but enjoyed it too much and so carried on. Just heartbroken for Sinèad and May she rest in peace now, darling girl 💔💔💔💔
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Sinead was incapable of speaking anything but what was in her heart. She always paid the price! What an incredible letter. I want to print it out for my daughter. I love her little details "a diamond for his mistress" "sunning himself on a yatch in Anguilla" you know she knows of what she speaks.
What a beautiful, important letter.
Sinéad was simply amazing, a badass who was ahead of her time and gone too soon. Miley would do well to heed her advice going forward.
I think Miley has always had support and a good head on her shoulders. Her new song and it’s subsequent TikTok series really shows how she’s reflected on these moments from her EARLY 20’s when everyone was offended by her sticking her tongue out and twerking and being young and hot. The difference I think is that she owned her sexuality and identity and has always been self aware with a supportive family. Sinead did not have that at all and had to find out the realities of the world all on her own. So she wrote that letter from a good place, Miley just didn’t get it.
I have never seen Miley as owning her sexuality- she has only ever appeared to me as yet another young girl stripping on stage whilst pretending to sing. It is only in recent months, quite literally, that I have been able to notice Miley’s voice & talent, proving Sinèad’s point in her heartfelt & honest letter. Miley has been mislead into using her sexuality to sell - it has worked to a degree as she sold well - but it totally masked her talent. Whereas Sinèad, right from age 18, refused to wear short skirts, lots of make up & grow her hair long as demanded by her record label. Instead she shaved her head to show them where they can shove it. That’s true rock and roll punk feminist spirit. Miley doesn’t have that & this didn’t even get Sinèad’s letter to her own detriment sadly
Sigh. Miley’s *been* singing. Just cause you didn’t like her voice or pay attention until now doesn’t mean she hasn’t always been clear about who she is. You don’t think her entire family of singers had any advice regarding “selling your body” in the music industry? Lol
You’re missing both mine & Sinèad’s point - Miley’s overt sexualisation hid her music & voice for many, me included, because we saw & see yet another girl stripping on stage with a mic and frankly cannot be bothered to listen to her nor engage at all because it is prosaic, predictable, has been done by many before & many concurrently & therefore we are not interested in being further bored with yet more repetitive drivel. Miley doesn’t realise that hence her despicable response to Sinèad’s heartfelt & caring letter. Miley’s family may or may not have advised her either way - none if us know & it is not relevant in any case. Miley fully signed up to sell her body, did and does so with full commitment thus turning millions away from her voice & music. Miley’s shaming & bullying of Sinèad on the global public stage in response to Sinèad’s kind heartfelt gracious letter is and was despicable. Sinèad only wrote her that letter because spoilt brat Miley attempted to rip off Sinèad’s image, music & art, did it incredibly badly whilst missing the point entirely of Sinèad’s image & work, and advertised the fact in Rolling Stone, which in itself was a insult to Sinèad from the get go. Sinèad responded in kind and got a public shaming & kick in the teeth in response. No wonder Miley was the type ready to sell herself & go to any lengths - she would go on to throw Sinèad under the bus having poorly attempted to rip her off. I’m glad you like Miley’s voice & music. She has a good voice with a lovely lower register. It’s a shame she’s got no originality, tries to rip real artists off & simultaneously mocks & humiliates them globally. Miley should be cancelled & vilified for bullying & encouraging further bullying & pile ons simply because someone has mental health fragilities. Disgusting beast.
Lmao girl what rock do you live under? She has and had millions of fans deeply affected by her music then, and since. Booty shaking and bullying and all. I’m sure you never heard or seen someone fuck up taking advice when you were 21. Nice tirade though!
If Miley chose to ‘use’ Sineads name and credit her as inspiration then it would have been a good idea to know what Sinead was about as a person and musician and have respect for her history .
Yes, it would have. If only we were all so knowing and wise at 21 and made zero mistakes and all the right choices.
respect for others is not acquired by age
That’s exactly the entire point of Sinead’s letter to her.
I feel like Miley was pimped out by her family...and therefore “owned” the persona.
I believe this is a true statement! A family friend of mine wrote a handful of songs with Miley during her Hannah Montana years and says he remembers being in a room with her and her parents and Disney execs and she would sit on the execs laps and he saw her leave with one. What happens after who knows but it’s definitely suspect when she was in her teens at that time and her parents seemed to condone it. He made it seem like everyone in the industry was aware of how her parents pimped her out.
That's quite an accusation. If your family friend saw it with their own eyes they should have reported it. Otherwise it is a harmful gossip damaging to everyone involved. Disgusting if it'd happened, disgusting if it'd not.
As I said what happens after they left is up for speculation. Can’t really report her sitting on someone’s lap especially when there’s videos of her around that time literally grinding a movie producer and no one did anything about it. Just because it wasn’t reported does not mean it did not happen. Just supporting what others and Sinead have said, that she was being taken advantage of.
Wow. I have new respect for her.
I remember reading this letter when it was published and I thought that this letter should be read by every young woman, and woman in the music industry so that they understand that their thinking of "girl power" or that it is "feminism" in some way to take away your clothing and sexualizing each song and performance is a lie that is told to allow themselves to be exploited by an industry run by men, quite the opposite. Miley's response to this letter is from a rude and spoiled person (typical of a girl who thinks that because she has been in the industry since she was a little girl she knows everything). Sorry to disappoint anyone here who likes miley or her music, but she is a hypocrite, she was and still is. Not only did she wait 10 years and Sinead's death to talk about it and say that she "didn't know the state of mind she was in", seriously?? you did not know? I knew it, the rest of her fans knew it, the media knew it and even people who weren't fans knew everything they did to her and what she experienced in her life. You cut your hair for her supposedly because you admired her, and you didn't know anything about her? Miley even today she is still a pop product and she still acts the way Sinead told her she was going to be a slave to the men in the industry, she still praises disney when we all know what happens in disney. She puts out a little song about how "she used to be young and crazy and wild and all those things you think I am" All those things she's done was to generate controversy and attention, great it worked! there is nothing real in something prepared just for her to say ""hey, look at me, I'm a woman, I do what I want with my body and I behave like an idiot so that you can talk about me" Sinead was a beautiful wise human being a person who suffered until the last day of her life. A person who always said things that made others feel uncomfortable because they were truths that most ignored or believed were conspiracies because they were not on their TV . She spoke about wars, the destruction they left millions without a home, family and forced them to leave their country to survive. She talked about supporting Palestine, Syria and all the countries that were being bombed by Israel and the US. She spoke and denounced the abuse of minors by the Catholic Church, without ceasing to be a religious woman, she spoke and denounced the music industry, she defended the rights of women and children everywhere. She never stopped saying what she thought no matter how much the media and other people labeled her as "troublesome". There is only one Sinead, there are thousands of Mileys
If I were Miley, I would have each page of that letter blown up, framed, and hung on my wall. That way she could see it every day and think of Sinead , think of her words, and heed them. Then pay it forward for other young women in the public eye...
THAT would be the best tribute she could pay to Sinead.
Amen