Miley Cyrus has a love-hate relationship with her past role as Hannah Montana. The actress has spoken candidly about being on Disney Channel over the years — most recently alluding to the experience in her August 2023 single, “Used to be Young.”
Cyrus wore a Mickey Mouse T-shirt under a red bustier top in the song’s music video, a subtle nod to her Disney days. While fans were quick to make the connection between the song and her past job, Cyrus has made it clear that she’s never purposely trying to cause controversy.
“I carried some guilt and shame around myself for years because of how much controversy and upset I really caused,” she told British Vogue in May 2023 when reflecting on her career.
However, it wasn’t all bad when experiencing the “best of both worlds” with Hannah Montana. Cyrus penned a heartfelt note to her former alter-ego while celebrating the show’s 15-year anniversary in March 2021.
“You have all my love and utmost gratitude. Breathing life into you for those six years was an honor,” she wrote. “I am indebted not only to you, Hannah, but to any and everyone who believed in me from the beginning. You all have my loyalty and deepest appreciation until the end.”
After Hannah Montana came to an end in 2011, there were some highly public controversies — from twerking with teddy bears to riding a wrecking ball — along with the narrative that Cyrus was shedding her Disney image.
“Now that I’m an adult, I realize how harshly I was judged,” she told the magazine. “I was harshly judged as a child by adults and now, as an adult, I realize that I would never harshly judge a child.”
Keep scrolling to read Cyrus’ candid quotes about her Disney Channel days: