The Shady Side Of The Cyrus Family

Who could have predicted that we would still be talking about the man behind "Achy Breaky Heart" more than 30 years after it became a line-dancing smash? Yes, whether it's getting into public disputes with both his ex-wives and famous offspring or delivering trainwreck performances at presidential inauguration ceremonies, Billy Ray Cyrus is still making headlines. And it's usually for all the wrong reasons.

Of course, the country star isn't the only member of his family to regularly grace the tabloids for questionable behavior. Whether it's his superstar daughter Miley Cyrus getting sued for copyright infringement, son Trace Cyrus starting feuds with his emo-rock rivals, fans, and even his own band, or his youngest Noah Cyrus making problematic defenses of Harry Styles, Billy Ray's clan is quickly rivaling the Kardashians, the Lohans, and the Royals as the showbiz world's messiest. Here's a look at 14 super-shady reasons why.

In 2024, a 90-second audio recording of a man reported to be Billy Ray Cyrus was leaked to the press. And it didn't exactly paint the "You Won't Be Lonely Now" singer as the calmest presence. In fact, there were almost as many expletives in the short clip as a Quentin Tarantino box set.

In the footage, the continually shady Cyrus can be heard castigating then-wife Firerose about her punctuality, arguing that she'd made him late by at least two hours. "If you would've left it alone when I told you, it's done," the hitmaker says (via Billboard), alluding to an undisclosed issue. "Now I'm really f***ing pissed. You once again showed me you will not listen. I don't know who the f*** you think you are, but you will not f***ing listen."

Cyrus, who also used several derogatory names while addressing Firerose, later took to Instagram Stories to justify why things got so heated. "Hell yeah, I was at my wit's end. As every day went by, I started realizing something was wrong." The chart-topper then went on to list several reasons why things went sour between the pair, including the discovery that his ex had once been arrested for felony residential burglary. He ended the tirade with, "See you in court."

Billy Ray Cyrus' name was also brought into disrepute in June 2024 when his ex-wife Firerose claimed that she'd been repeatedly mistreated by the "Could've Been Me" singer. Perhaps the most damning of their brief marriage's many red flags concerned the day she was due to undergo double mastectomy surgery.

According to the Australian, Cyrus threw her out of their shared home in Tennessee just hours before she was due to go into hospital, having been previously diagnosed with BRCA1, a gene mutation linked to an increased risk of breast cancer. Firerose also claims that her former husband had previously demanded that she recuperate with a private nurse in a farmyard cabin and barred any friends from visiting.

Everyday life also appeared to be strictly regulated, with Firerose alleging that she wasn't allowed a car and was prohibited from communicating with others unless she received permission first. "I was only allowed to go to the local chiropractor and allowed once a month to get my nails done," she told Page Six in an interview. Referring to their split, the singer added, "When Billy decided to discard me it was [in] a brutal way. I would never treat another human being so cruelly."

Following Billy Ray Cyrus' on-stage meltdown at Donald Trump's second presidential inauguration in 2025, his eldest son took to Instagram to share his concerns. Unfortunately, the "She's Not Cryin' Anymore" singer didn't appreciate what Trace Cyrus had to say. In fact, he was so incensed that he ended up threatening him with legal action.

Trace had previously revealed (via The Independent) how he "barely recognized" his country singer dad at the event and implored him to seek help before it was too late. Billy Ray sought assistance, of course, but from his lawyer instead of any medical team. And as you'd expect, this course of retaliation didn't go sit too well with its target.

"Dad, my message was beyond loving," Trace responded on Instagram. "I could have been extremely honest about a lot more, but I don't want to put your business out there like that." The former Metro Station singer then described Billy Ray as a "disgrace" before claiming that the country singer's own father would have been hugely disappointed with his actions. "You should be ashamed of yourself," he concluded.

As well as berating his second wife in the damaging audio tapes leaked to the press in the summer of 2024, Billy Ray Cyrus could also be heard slating his first. In fact, no one appeared to be safe from the "Old Town Road" hitmaker's tongue at the time. Not even his superstar daughter.

Indeed, Billy Ray can be heard describing someone (via USA Today) as "everyone knows devil's a skank" in another foul-mouthed audio clip, with the press believing that he was referring to either his ex-wife Tish or their world-conquering offspring Miley. While the target of his ire is unclear on this occasion, there are other examples which need little interpretation.

In one particular text message, Billy once again uses his favorite insult while discussing Tish's appearance on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast. "She is a liar ... and a cheat. Complete skank. Scum of the earth. A fraud," he wrote while reportedly corresponding with his manager. He also claimed that Tish had been "impregnated by two different men" before he met her, inferring that contrary to popular belief, adopted children Trace and Brandi don't have the same father.

Miley Cyrus sure didn't hold back while discussing the impact of fame on her siblings on "The Joe Rogan Experience" in 2020. "You can go one way or the other," the "Flowers" singer told the controversial podcaster (via Cosmopolitan). "You either become my younger sister, who kind of wants [the fame], and she's got a record out that I love called 'The End of Everything.'" She's called Noah Cyrus."

Miley went on to describe the aforementioned EP as the "most depressing" that you could possibly listen to, also referring to her — rather confusingly — as both an "emo kid" and "sunshine." The grammy winner also brought up the fact that her younger sibling had been seeking help from a "family doctor" in dealing with the pressures of the celebrity world. "I worry about her," she concluded.

Understandably, Noah didn't seem to appreciate her dirty laundry being aired in public, although it took her several years to express this. Indeed, it was only in 2023 that the "Young and Sad" singer commented on the offending footage with the words, "The disrespect in this video."

Miley Cyrus scored one of the biggest hits of her career in 2023 with "Flowers," spending eight weeks atop the Hot 100 and winning both Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the Grammy Awards. It was the type of immediate pop hit that on first listen sounds like it's already been part of the musical landscape for years. As it turns out, it kind of had.

Yes, many listeners noted that the lead single from Cyrus' eighth studio effort "Endless Summer Vacation" bore an uncanny resemblance to a Bruno Mars smash from ten years earlier, "When I Was Your Man." And in an industry which very much adheres to the motto, "Where there's a hit, there's a writ," the former "Hannah Montana" star and her fellow songwriters Michael Pollack and Gregory Hein were issued with a lawsuit.

It wasn't actually Mars who got all the lawyers involved. Instead, it was Tempo Music Investments, the company that owned a portion of the track thanks to hitmaker Philip Lawrence's contribution. Two months later, Cyrus' attorneys filed to get the lawsuit dismissed, but the case remains unresolved.

In 2009, Miley Cyrus caused controversy when she performed "Party in the USA" at the Teen Choice Awards next to an ice cream cart's metal pole, which looked suspiciously like something you'd find at a strip club. The former "Hannah Montana" star, let's not forget, was only 16 at the time. And so, it's probably not much of a shock to learn that it wasn't her idea.

You may, however, be surprised to learn that it wasn't a questionable TV producer or record company executive, either. Remarkably, it was, in fact, Miley's own mother who came up with the provocative concept. And she essentially hung her own daughter out to dry once the s*** hit the fan.

Miley revealed all 15 years later while talking to her older sister Brandi Cyrus on the Spotify series "Billions Club." "So she always lets me take the blame," the grammy winner said (via E! News), referring to her mom and the aforementioned performance. "When I got in trouble the next day, you know who was nowhere to be found? Tish Cyrus."

In 2020, Noah Cyrus took to Instagram Stories to issue a defense of Harry Styles' fashion sense after Conservative commentator Candace Owens criticized the Vogue front cover in which he sported a typically feminine outfit. "He wears this dress better than any of u nappy ass heauxz," the "Make Me (Cry)" singer remarked (via Billboard).

Cyrus no doubt thought that her support for the former One Direction singer was relatively innocuous. But much to her horror, one of the words she used, 'nappy,' was widely criticized as a racially insensitive one. Indeed, the star was soon called out on social media for writing a term that historically referred to African hair texture in a derogatory manner. And the fact that Owens is a woman of color made the situation even more awkward.

Risk-taking fashionista Cyrus soon took to the same platform to give a heartfelt apology for her ignorance. "I am mortified that I used a term without knowing the context and history, but I know now and am horrified and truly sorry," the grammy nominee explained. She then thanked those who'd educated her on the matter and insisted that she would never use the offending term ever again.

Okay, so it's hardly Drake versus Kendrick Lamar. But the emo scene of the late '00s did get its own all-star beef when Metro Station — fronted by the heavily tattooed Trace Cyrus, of course — and All Time Low started to wage a war of words that would last well until the next decade.

In fact, it was in 2015 when their feud came to a head, and very publicly, for that matter, at the Alternative Press Music Awards. The drama on this occasion began when Cyrus used the opportunity to call out his band's nemesis while introducing a performance by PVRIS. "I don't understand why All Time Low always [have] to talk s*** on Metro Station," he told the crowd (via Metro). "We've been nothing but nice to those guys."

The plot thickened when, amid rumors of a behind-the-scenes fight, All Time Low frontman and the ceremony's host Alex Gaskarth quipped on stage, "I just had the most beautiful conversation with Trace Cyrus backstage." The Metro Station singer later took to Twitter to fume further about his rock rivals. After posting a 2009 clip of some smackdown talk from All Time Low, he responded, "Damn, I wish I lived in a world I could beat someone's ass without getting sued."

Noah Cyrus wasn't the first member of her family who ended up having to apologize for making remarks that many viewed as racially insensitive. Three years before the latter's Harry Styles debacle, chameleonic sister Miley Cyrus got into trouble for describing the hip-hop genre as "lewd."

"I can't listen to that anymore," the grammy winner told Billboard about the sound that had shaped her 2013 album "Bangerz." "That's what pushed me out of the hip-hop scene a little. It was too much 'Lamborghini, got my Rolex, got a girl on my c***.'" Miley was subsequently accused of biting the hand that once fed her, with many commentators also claiming that her adoption of Black music and subsequent dismissal was a clear sign of her white privilege.

To her credit, Miley did listen to all the feedback and, in response to one particular YouTube video from Kenya Wilson, admitted (via Entertainment Weekly) she'd used her words all wrong: "I own the fact that saying ... 'This pushed me out of the hip hop scene a little' was insensitive as it is a privilege to have the ability to dip in and out of 'the scene.'" The "We Can't Stop" hitmaker went on to acknowledge that although she can't change what she said, she can say sorry for the offense she caused.

Forget "Days of Our Lives," "The Young and the Restless," or any other daytime TV institution still on air today. The best soap opera drama of 2024 appeared courtesy of two members of the Cyrus family and the muscle man from "Prison Break."

The year previously, Tish Cyrus had married Dominic Purcell, best known for playing Wentworth Miller's older brother in the '00s finest jail-based thriller. However, there were two notable absences at the ceremony: the bride's son, Braison, and daughter, Noah. Eventually, reports emerged that the latter's no-show was due to a salacious love triangle. Indeed, according to several tabloids, Purcell first got together with Tish shortly after he'd just split from someone very familiar to her — yep, you guessed it, Noah.

Neither party has ever publicly confirmed or denied the speculation. But Noah did add some fuel to the fire when one of her trouble-making Instagram followers referenced the unusual scenario while commenting on a post. "I'm so sorry but will you pleeeeeass just choke on the fattest c***," the "Everybody Needs Someone" singer wrote (via E! News). "Just for a lil bit. Great thanks."

All Time Low aren't the only emo outfit to have incurred the wrath of Trace Cyrus over the years. In 2010, the heavily inked singer also took aim at his very own bandmates during a period of in-fighting which ended up resulting in legal action.

Indeed, just two years after gracing the US Top 10 with the hit single "Shake It," the rest of Metro Station decided to file a lawsuit against Cyrus after he'd announced a break-up without their knowledge. Adding insult to injury, their former frontman then took to Twitter (via TMZ) to dismiss their music with four simple words, "That s*** was weak."

Mitchell Musso and co. also wanted to get rid of Cyrus as the president of the band's official company, Metrostation, Inc. But that was a job easier said than done. Luckily for the group's fan base, the warring members eventually managed to put their differences aside, and in 2014, the Cyrus family's fourth most famous musical export rejoined full-time, aptly naming their comeback single, "Love and War."

Former wild child Miley Cyrus set the cat among the pigeons when she accepted Record of the Year at the 2024 Grammy Awards and failed to mention several close family members in her speech. Indeed, while taking to the stage in light of "Flowers" picking up the coveted accolade (for record of the year and best pop solo performance), the singer gave shout-outs to her sibling, Brandi, and her mother, Tish. But dad Billy Ray and sister Noah were notably snubbed.

"I don't think I forgot anyone, but I might have forgotten underwear," Miley concluded (via The Hollywood Reporter), prompting viewers to theorize that the former Disney Channel star had deliberately given Noah and Billy Ray the brush-off. Further evidence came when she took to Instagram to further express her gratitude for the award.

"I had all the perfect things to say but none of them could come out in this moment of shock," Miley wrote. "I'm happy they didn't ... because (thankfully) prepared perfection just isn't my story. Life is so much more exciting this way." The one-time Hannah Montana then thanked everyone, from her godmother, Dolly Parton, to her legion of fans, but once again, she didn't name Billy Ray or Noah.

In 2019, Trace Cyrus uploaded an image to Instagram in which his heavily tattooed hand was placed on the neck of girlfriend Lauren Sanders. It's fair to say that not all of his followers appreciated this particular update. In fact, several reported the former Metro Station singer to the photo-sharing platform on the grounds that he'd posted pornography.

Unsurprisingly, Cyrus didn't take this response lying down. "F*** ALL U JEALOUS GIRLS REPORTING MY PIC OF MY BAE!!!" he posted (via TMZ) before imploring those who'd complained to educate themselves about makeup and fashion and head to the gym. "There's so much that can be done," he continued. "But don't go hating on my girl because she's hot!! There was nothing wrong with the picture I had posted."

Instagram, however, obviously felt differently and deleted the offending image. "I believe every woman can be beautiful but JEALOUSLY and lack of confidence in yourselves makes u all look disgusting," Cyrus went on to add, proving that it's not only emo musicians he can start a beef with.