In a new installment of the Sorry We’re Cyrus podcast, hosted by Tish Cyrus and her daughter Brandi, Miley Cyrus shared some behind-the-scenes dirt from her Hannah Montana days regarding her dad, country star Billy Ray Cyrus.
When asked which moment from her time on the show still makes her laugh, Miley didn’t hesitate. “Dad smoking pot and everyone blaming me for it,” she deadpanned. “It’s hilarious.”
The Disney teen sitcom aired from 2006-2011, with Miley starring in the leading role as Miley Stuart, aka teen pop superstar Hannah Montana. Billy Ray had a major role in the show, too, playing her father, Robby Ray Stuart. Of course, the duo are father and daughter in real life too, and his role took significant inspiration from Billy Ray’s real-life personality.
Miley was just 13 years old when she started filming Hannah Montana, and she implies that she wasn’t the one lighting up on set — although apparently, she did get the blame for Billy Ray’s marijuana habit.
Both Miley and Billy Ray are open about advocating for cannabis legalization and recreational use these days. In 2020, Billy Ray launched his own limited edition pack of pre-rolls in partnership with Lowell Herb Co.
But back in the 2000s, he wasn’t quite so open about his affinity for marijuana. In fact, Tish – who’d been married to him for more than a decade by the time the show started – says she didn’t even believe it when people on set called her to tell her he was using the drug.
“They were calling me saying B-Ray was smoking pot and I was like, ‘Absolutely not, he would never do that,'” she recalls, saying she figured the smoker had to be another Hannah Montana star: “It was Mitchel Musso,” she recountS.
“Well, it was Mitchel Musso. It was both,” Miley shoots back.
The Cyrus family has been through some very public ups and downs in recent years, and Miley and her country star father were estranged for a while. In a recent New York Times interview, the singer says she’s found healing in the wake of her parents’ 2022 divorce.
“… 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,” Cyrus reflects, adding that she “took on some of my mom’s hurt as my own, because it hurt her more than it hurt me as an adult.”
- Since the couple split, Tish married Prison Break star Dominic Purcell in 2023.
- That same year, Billy Ray married singer-songwriter Firerose, but they announced their split less than a year later.
- Their divorce was contentious. He accused Firerose of financial abuse and filed a restraining order, and she returned allegations against him of verbal and emotional abuse.
- The couple finalized their divorce in 2024.
Most recently, Billy Ray has found love again with actor Elizabeth Hurley. They made their relationship public in late April.
“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 points out. “I’m being an adult about it.”
See Country Music’s Most Famous Feuds
A few of these famous country music feuds were settled peacefully. The rest? There are more than a handful of artists who just won’t talk to each other.
