Bad girl of the moment Miley Cyrus has rejected “motherly” advice from Sinead O’Connor who yesterday made a public plea to the pop star to stop “prostituting” herself for her career.
Former child star, 20-year-old Cyrus has dominated entertainment news since her shocking ‘twerking’ performance at the MTV Awards and has followed up with a controversial film clip and a series of revealing outfits.
Miley’s predecessor expressed concern and attacked the music industry’s exploitative demands in an open letter after the young singer told Rolling Stone her racy Wrecking Ball video and new look were inspired by O’Connor.
“You said in Rolling Stone that your look is based on mine,” the 46-year-old ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ singer wrote.
“The look I chose, I chose on purpose at a time when my record company were encouraging me to do what you have done. I felt I would rather be judged on my talent and not my looks.
While she criticised her look and slammed her career strategy, O’Connor said she was writing to the pop star “in the spirit of motherliness and with love”.
“I am extremely concerned for you that those around you have led you to believe, or encouraged you in your own belief, that in any way ‘cool’ to be naked and licking sledgehammers in your videos.
“It is in fact the case that you will obscure your talent by allowing yourself to be pimped, whether it’s the music business or yourself doing the pimping.
O’Connor didn’t mince her words when warning Miley the music business “doesn’t give a s*** about your, or any of us”.
“They will prostitute you for all you are worth,” she said, and warned of ending up “in rehab as a result of being prostituted”.
Cyrus promptly ignored the advice of the woman she credits with inspiring her new look, releasing a series of racy photographs by celebrity photographer Terry Richardson, posing provocatively in a revealing red leotard in some of the raciest images released of Miley yet.
On Twitter, the 20-year-old compared O’Connor to Amanda Bynes, whose troubles led her to psychiatric treatment.
Cyrus also drew on O’Connor’s controversial past, posting an image of the 90’s star tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II during as appearance on Saturday Night Live.
In a new MTV documentary Miley Cyrus: The Movement, the star has rejected the notion that she is troubled or being taken advantage of, insisting that her controversial VMA’s performance was “strategic”.
In her letter, O’Connor warned that the new image Cyrus was portraying was “sending dangerous signals to young women”.
“This is a dangerous world. We don’t encourage our daughters to walk around naked in it because it makes them prey for animals and less than animals, a distressing majority of whom work in the industry and its associated media.
“You have enough talent that you don’t need to let the music business make a prostitute of you. You shouldn’t let them make a fool of you either,” she wrote.
