Miley Cyrus Opens Up About Her Relationship With Her Dad, Billy Ray Cyrus
Miley Cyrus is learning to show grace and accept her parents’ individual paths after they decided to separate.
In an interview with The New York Times, Miley Cyrus opened up about her current relationship with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus. The two were once estranged following family tensions that began after her parents’ divorce.
Miley’s parents, Tish Cyrus and country star Billy Ray Cyrus, were married for nearly 20 years before officially filing for divorce in 2022.
Not long after their split, both found love again. Tish went on to marry Prison Break star Dominic Purcell the following year, while Billy Ray tied the knot with singer-songwriter Firerose.
Just seven months later, however, Billy Ray filed for divorce from Firerose. In the filing, he cited irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct as reasons behind their breakup. Their divorce was finalized in August 2024.
But even after everything they went through as a family, Miley says her relationship with her dad is starting to heal.
She shared that, at this point in her life, she’s beginning to view her parents’ choices differently, which has helped her better understand why things happened the way they did.
“I think timing is everything,” Miley said. “As I’ve gotten older, I’m respecting my parents as individuals instead of as parents.”
She also explained that when her parents were splitting up, it was easier for her to understand what her mom was going through.
“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 she’s older, Miley isn’t judging them based on their relationship with each other.
“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. I’m being an adult about it.”
Recently, Billy Ray found happiness again in his new relationship with actress Elizabeth Hurley.
The couple announced they were dating through a sweet Instagram post on Easter Sunday. Since then, they’ve openly spoken about their relationship and even made their red carpet debut at the end of last month.
“At first it’s hard,” Miley continued, “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.”