Miley Cyrus explains why she doesn’t have any real friendships with celebrities

‘Flowers’ singer admits that she prefers ‘quality, not quantity’ when it comes to her relationships in Hollywood

Miley Cyrus has opened up about maintaining friendships with people in the entertainment industry.

The “Flowers” singer, 31, made a special appearance during David Letterman’s Netflix series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. During the episode – which hit the streaming platform on Wednesday 12 June – Cyrus performed a private concert for Letterman and reflected on her nearly two-decades-long career, from starring on Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana to winning her first ever Grammy this year.

At one point, the talk show host reflected on the “Wrecking Ball” singer’s 2024 Grammys performance and noted that the ceremony seemed like “an enormous celebration of women in music”.

However, when he asked Cyrus whether she maintains any close relationships with her peers in Hollywood, she candidly revealed: “I am not very active or very a part of my community of other artists and entertainers and celebrities. It just doesn’t feel like my people when I’m in that room.”

“But there are certain artists like Beyonce – who, like us, we’ve known each other for a long time,” she added. Cyrus – who was recently featured on Beyoncé’s latest album, Cowboy Carter – went on to recall her “Just Stand Up” performance during the “Stand Up to Cancer" telethon in 2008.

“When I was probably 15, I performed with Beyoncé and all the girls,” she told Letterman. “I was sandwiched between Rihanna and Queen Bey and they’re, like, fully grown up, gorgeous, probably similar to my age now, towering over me, completely stunning.”

Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, and Rihanna perform ‘Just Stand Up’ during the 2008 Stand Up to Cancer telethon (Getty Images)

Cyrus continued: “I’m like, super small, have acne, have braces on the back of my teeth, and I’m standing next to Mariah Carey, who is dripping in diamonds. And Beyoncé was so kind to me.”

The Last Song star explained that she and the “Crazy in Love” singer have since “created a relationship, maybe a bit more in-depth” than her relationships with other women in the music industry.

“The kindness and the consistency is everything,” Cyrus noted, adding: “So I’m a part of my community in that way but, again, it’s all quality, not quantity. I’m not very active in that.”

Elsewhere during the episode, the “Party in the USA” singer subtly hinted at her estranged relationship with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, amid his recent filing for divorce from his wife of seven months, Firerose.

When asked by Letterman whether she considers her father – who starred as her on-screen dad in Hannah Montana – to be her hero, Cyrus admitted that she actually considers her mother, Tish Cyrus, to be her hero. Although the Grammy winner explained that she inherited her dad’s “perspective and reality on life”, she believed that it was her mother who truly raised her.

“Um, so I think a lot of, like, his... perspective on reality and on life, I’ve inherited from him more so than the way that I was raised, which really my mom raised me,” Cyrus told Letterman, noting that she perhaps also inherited her dad’s narcissism, too.

However, she maintained that the parts her parents played in her life “can’t be weighed on the same scale”.

In 2022, Tish Cyrus filed for divorce from Billy Ray after nearly 30 years of marriage. That same year, the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer announced he was engaged to fellow artist Firerose, 25 years his junior. Less than one year of marriage, he filed for divorce in May, citing irreconcilable differences and “inappropriate marital conduct” as the reasons for the split. Billy Ray reportedly requested an immediate annulment, with “claims his marriage was obtained by fraud”.

Meanwhile, Tish tied the knot with Prison Break star Dominic Purcell in August 2023, four months after announcing their engagement.