Miley Cyrus has revealed that she’s back on good terms with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, despite their historically up-and-down relationship.
The singer opened up in an interview with The New York Times published on May 31. When asked if she and her father were “still estranged,” Miley responded, “No.”
“I think timing is everything,” she continued. “As I’ve gotten older, I’m respecting my parents as individuals instead of as parents — because my mom really loved my dad for her whole life, and I think being married to someone in the music industry and not being a part of it is obviously really hard. And so I think I took on some of my mom’s hurt as my own because it hurt her more than it hurt me as an adult, and so I owned a lot of her pain.
“But now that my mom is so in love with my stepdad, who I completely adore, and now that my dad, I see him finding happiness, too — I can love them both as individuals instead of as a parental pairing.”
Miley in her answer referenced the fact that both of her parents have new romantic partners in their lives. Her father is with Elizabeth Hurley, while Tish Cyrus is married to Dominic Purcell.
Miley continued on by explaining how her maturity plays an important factor in the father-daughter relationship.
“I’m being an adult about it,” she said. “At first it’s hard, because the little kid in you reacts before the adult in you can go, ‘Yes, that’s your dad, but that’s just another person that deserves to be in his bliss and to be happy.’ My child self has caught up.”
Miley’s explanation comes after she addressed rumors about family tensions after her mother seemed to unfollow her on Instagram.
“I rarely comment on rumors, but my mama and I are too tight for anything to ever come between us,” wrote Miley. “She’s my best friend. Like a lot of moms, she doesn’t know how to work her phone and somehow unfollowed me — simple, coincidental, and uninteresting.”
Miley then addressed her relationship with her father, writing that the pair “have had our challenges over the years.”
“Now, in my thirties, family is my priority above all else,” Miley concluded. “I’m at peace knowing bridges have been built and time has done a lot of healing. Grateful for the good health and love that flows through my family.”
