Perennial pop star Miley Cyrus has treated us to countless “eras” during her career.
We’ve had the Hannah Montana version, the whimsical rom-com Miley, her post-Disney rebellious streak, her ‘wifey’ era with Liam Hemsworth and, now, we have a grungy, reflective music star.
And in 2013, we were smack-bang in the middle of the ex-child star-turned-singer’s so-called ‘wild’ era.
Just two years earlier, Cyrus’ long-running show Hannah Montana had come to an end and she was determined to shed her innocent Disney image.
Watch the video above.
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The then 20-year-old had released her album Bangerz and was promoting her hit songs during the MTV VMAs alongside singer Robin Thicke.
What happened on that stage in front of millions shocked and thrilled her fans in equal measure.
It’s now regarded as one of the most iconic pop culture moments of the 2010s.
How is this image of former child star Miley Cyrus appropriate for 14-year-olds?
Cyrus danced and twerked alongside giant teddy bears in a move that firmly distanced her from the “good girl” status she earned on Disney.
During her performance, Cyrus also danced provocatively alongside Blurred Lines singer Thicke while donning a nude bikini and wearing a foam finger.
The duo sang a fun medley of their hits We Can’t Stop, Blurred Lines and Give It 2 U and their literal tongue-wagging show made headlines for weeks to come.
Even the faces of celebrities in the audience betrayed how they really felt. Cameras panned over to Rihanna and the members of One Direction, all of whom looked appalled.
Critics immediately slammed the performance as being too raunchy, inappropriate and over-sexualised.
Cyrus shouldered most of the blame, while Thicke managed to avoid much of the backlash. He wasn’t hot off the heels of a decade of being a tween idol. Cyrus was and she paid dearly for it.
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“Cyrus’s performance was shocking, but for reasons not being discussed,” critic Kate Dries wrote for Jezebel.
“It was jarring because, as opposed to the random, half-nude models we’re used to seeing prance around Robin Thicke, we were watching a 20-year-old woman – a household name, someone we ‘know’ – play the object in Thicke’s sexy sex dream.”
The Parents Television Council also took aim at Cyrus and MTV for airing the performance during prime time.
“MTV continues to sexually exploit young women by promoting acts that incorporate ‘twerking’ in a nude-coloured bikini,” it wrote in a press release. “How is this image of former child star Miley Cyrus appropriate for 14-year-olds?”
Cyrus herself also knew just how “shocking” her fans and viewers found the performance.
Years later, the Last Song actress reflected on how her twerking offended people’s delicate sensibilities. She defended her decision, explaining she had been ‘exposed’ in a different way for years due to her TV role.
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“People were so shocked by some of the things that I did,” she told Harper’s Bazaar magazine in 2017.
“It should be more shocking that when I was 11 or 12, I was put in full hair and make-up, a wig, and told what to wear by a group of mostly older men.
“It’s no wonder that a lot of people lose their way and lose who they really are because they always have people telling them who to be.”
Cyrus also admitted to fans she struggled with the body-shaming that took place after the 2013 performance, revealing it stopped her wearing revealing outfits for a long time.
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“All this s—t because after the VMAs, where I had on my cute little nude bodysuit, everyone started comparing me to a turkey and putting a turkey in my outfit,” she said on an Instagram Live in 2020.
“I was just so skinny and pasty, and I was feeling so bad [about] myself that I did not wear a bikini for two years.”
In the decade since Cyrus instantly shed her innocent Disney reputation in front of an audience of millions, the pop star has undergone a huge transformation.
She has since divorced her Australian ex-husband Liam Hemsworth, released several more chart-topping albums and reverted back to her earthy, country-music style.
Cyrus has also been reflecting on the past 10 years of her career in an honest series on TikTok, speaking about the pitfalls of being a former child star. Read more about it here.
Robin Thicke, for his part, has seemingly faded into obscurity since the 2013 performance.
His top-charting hit remains the controversial song Blurred Lines.
