Billy Ray Cyrus

Billy Ray Cyrus Goes Off on Vanity Fair Pics

Mandi Illuzzi — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:50:28 -0400

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"I didn't know they were going to strip her down," he says on Today

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Miley Cyrus' father Billy Ray is speaking out two months after the Hannah Montana star's controversial semi-topless Vanity Fair portrait.

"I didn't know they were going to strip her down and wrap her in a blanket," he told Meredith Vieira in an interview on Today Tuesday (Watch above, at 3 minutes in).

(See topless stars.)

Billy Ray says he left his 15-year-old daughter at the Annie Leibowitz photo shoot to perform a show in Washington state for troops returning from Iraq.

"I was surprised when I saw [the semi-topless photo]... but, hey, that's life," he added. "Stuff happens... We gotta deal with it."

Billy Ray told Vieira he didn't complain about the photo because "my dad always said, 'The more you stomp in poop, the more it stinks.'"

After the photo was released, Miley said she was embarrassed and apologized to her fans. But a second photo, of Miley in Billy Ray's lap also raised eyebrows.

"That's just a daddy who loves his daughter a whole lot," Billy Ray explained, laughing off Vieira's question that the pose made them look like girlfriend and boyfriend.

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Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus arrive at the premiere of 'High School Musical 2' on August 14, 2007 in Anaheim, California.

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Jason Merritt/Film Magic

Billy Ray Cyrus: My Daughter Sees Annie Leibovitz as a Paparazzi

Lindsay Powers — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:00:47 -0400

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The famed Vanity Fair snapper shot semi-topless pics of Miley Cyrus

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Billy Ray Cyrus says his family considers famed Vanity Fair photographer Annie Leibovitz — who famously shot Miley semi-topless — to be a paparazzi.

"I was catching these crawdads [with daughter Noah, 8] and all the sudden this paparazzi lady jumps out with this big bazooka lens and starts snapping away," Billy Ray said on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show Monday. "My little girl Noah looks up and says, 'Is that Annie Leibovitz?'

"That's the bizarre life I'm living right now," Billy Ray added.

Leibovitz shot the nearly topless photos of Miley, 15, for May's Vanity Fair.

"I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about," the Us Power Girl said as the photos sparked controversy from fans, parents and critics.

Still, Billy Ray — who is hosting the reality show Nashville Star — said his daughter is "doing great — she's doing a fantastic job on this Hannah Montana feature film, doing some wonderful acting."

Check out topless stars here.

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Miley Cyrus and Billy Ray Cyrus poses in the press room during the 2008 CMT Music Awards on April 14, 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Miley Cyrus "Appreciative" of Fan Support

Alissa R — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:58:25 -0400

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During a performance Saturday, a fan held a sign that read, "I'm praying for you"

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In her first performance since her Vanity Fair photo scandal, an enthusiastic Miley Cyrus thanked fans for their support.

The 15-year-old sang "See You Again," "Fly on the Wall" and "Breakout" at the Disney Channel Games concert Saturday in Orlando, Fla.

When she spotted a fan holding a sign that read, "I'm praying for you," Miley said, "I can't be more appreciative of that," according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Her Hannah Montana co-star Jason Earles told the paper she was holding up just fine.

"She's one of the strongest people I've ever met," he said. "She'll do everything to make sure she does right by her fans. It will be all right.

"I know what kind of person she is," he added. "She has a great heart."

As previously reported, Cyrus pulled out a red carpet event promoting the Disney Channel Games following the semi-topless photo scandal.

She issued a statement saying she was "embarrassed" she took the pictures. Usmagazine.com reported that her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, was not on the set at the time the snaps were taken.

For more of the Miley scandal, pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.

See more topless stars here.

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Miley Cyrus poses in the press room during the 2008 CMT Music Awards at the Curb Events Center at Belmont University on April 14, 2008 in Nashville, TN.

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Bill O'Reilly: Dad Turned Miley Cyrus Into a "Sex Symbol" at Age of 15

Alissa R — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:45:54 -0400

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He blames Billy Ray Cyrus for allowing her to pose for Vanity Fair

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Bill O'Reilly blames Billy Ray Cyrus for daughter Mile's Vanity Fair topless photo scandal.

On Monday's O'Reilly Factor, he said the country singer had been "canny" about keeping his 15-year-old daughter (who earned $18.2 million last year) out of scandal.

"Then they go into Vanity Fair — which is not her audience at all," he said. "He puts her into a situation where she becomes, at 15, a sex symbol.

"Middle America," O'Reilly added, "they don't like this."

Though O'Reilly said he thinks "Miley is a nice girl," she made "a bad decision."

His suggestion? "She should do Oprah and say, 'We made a mistake, here's why and it won't happen again,'" O'Reilly advised.

O'Reilly had previously called for a conference to discuss photos of a lingerie-clad Miley that had recently hit the Internet.

On Monday, Michele Combs, a spokesperson for the Christian Coalition of America, told Usmagazine.com that Disney should reprimand the Hannah Montana singer.

"If she's gonna go out there and represent wholesome values, she needs to be more accountable for her actions," Combs said.

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Miley Cyrus and Billy Ray Cyrus poses in the press room during the 2008 CMT Music Awards at the Curb Events Center at Belmont University on April 14, 2008 in Nashville, TN.

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Miley Cyrus Makes Funny Faces, Does Headstands in New YouTube Video

Lindsay Powers — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:32:22 -0500

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PLUS: The Disney star will co-host the CMT Awards with her dad

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Miley Cyrus has a hit show, Hannah Montana, on the Disney Channel — and now she’s branched out to YouTube!

The 15-year-old released a silly video called The Miley & Mandy Show with pal Mandy Jiroux, a dancer on her Best of Both Worlds Tour, on YouTube Sunday.

In the nearly five-minute clip, the girls — in sweatpants and T-shirts — make funny faces into the camera, dance to Janet Jackson’s “Feedback,” do headstands and even point to a boy in a magazine can ask, “Can you say irresistible?”

At the end of the clip, credits flash thanking the Jonas Brothers (Cyrus was linked to Nick Jonas at one point, but told Us she was single) for using their song.

This won’t be the only performance Cyrus is involved in: She’ll also host the live CMT Awards with dad Billy Ray on April 14.

“Miley and I are so excited,” Billy Ray, 46, said in a statement released Tuesday. “We know it will be a fun-filled night with a lot of great music performances.”

Cyrus, 15 — who recently adopted Ray as her middle name in honor of her father — will also perform a song with her pop.

Us Power Girl Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Toby Keith will also perform on the show, which airs live April 14 on CMT from Belmont University’s Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Cyrus was a presenter at Sunday’s Academy Awards. She brought her mother, Tish, as her date.

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Miley Cyrus and Billy Ray Cyrus at the 59th Annual Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, held at the Shrine Auditorium on September 08, 2007 in Los Angeles CA.

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Miley Cyrus' Emotional 9/11 Tribute

Henry Seltzer — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:13:59 -0500

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The singer and her father "were in tears once we told them what some of the guys went through," a firefighter tells Us

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Miley Cyrus is used to teary-eyed fans excited to see her, but the singer herself got weepy the day after Christmas when she and dad Billy Ray Cyrus visited NYC Fire Department Ladder Company 10, which lost four firefighters on 9/11.

"They were in tears once we told them what some of the guys went through," fireman Gary Kolsch tells Us Weekly in its latest issue, on newsstands now.

The Cyruses did manage to spread some holiday cheer: Billy Ray, 46, sang "Silent Night," and Miley, 15, signed autographs.

The mood brightened even more the next day when Kolsch and his daughter went backstage at Miley's concert on Long Island – and the singer said hello.

Kolsch tells Us, "My daughter is still talking about it!"

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Miley Cyrus poses as she visits backstage at "Mamma Mia!" on Broadway on December 23, 2007 in New York City.

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Dancing Delivers Dull Results Show

Allison Corneau — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:04:47 -0400

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After a much improved second outing by Dancing With the Stars's season four hotsteppers, it was especially tough to handicap the competition going into last night's results show. Who would dance for a final time? Would it be left-footed hillbilly Billy Ray Cyrus What about Shandi Finnessey, who delivered a mediocre mambo?

It took a long while, as reality results shows often do, to get to the point last night, but at least we were entertained by encore performances from Laila Ali and Maksim Chmerkovskiy along the way. Prior to Dionne Warwick's bland performance backed by Dancing's pros, we learned that it would be - shocker! - Heather Mills and her partner Jonathan Roberts who would be the first couple getting the green light for next week's performance round. Mills, who's rumored to be house hunting in LA, does not intend to leave anytime soon. In a surprisingly anticlimactic turn, host Tom Bergeron told our bottom two pick Clyde Drexler, that the fans had rallied to keep him on the dance floor another week.

Crowd favorites Ali and her partner sailed through, as did Ian Ziering and Dancing queen Cheryl Burke. When it came down to the wire, though, we weren't too surprised to see Paulina Porizkova and Alec Mazo go home. Our only suggestion moving forward? Please, production team, teach Bergeron the finer elements of surprise for next week's results show. He offered up a fair "after the break" teaser, but he and Samantha Harris need to really step it up when sending the stars home. Until then, we're looking forward to next week's jive and tango routines.

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