She kept this secret well! Miley Cyrus opened up to Ryan Seacrest on Monday, Aug. 25, about her Video of the Year win at the the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, and the even bigger moment when her date Jesse accepted the award on behalf of America’s homeless youth.
Cyrus, 21, said that last year’s scandalous duet with Robin Thicke made her realize that she needed to use her fame for the greater good. “I just didn’t realize my platform, I didn’t realize my power,” the singer told Seacrest. “I really realized it after the VMAs [last year] … there’s something special and there’s only few people that experience this that no matter what I do, there’s no winning or losing, it’s just going to be talked about. Period.”
Cyrus thus decided to use her star power and leverage at this year’s VMAs to spread an important message. “There’s going to be talk, so what do I want them to talk about?” she recalled. “If I’m going to be given this loud of a voice and this big of an image and this big of a platform and this huge of an opportunity to talk to young people in American right now, what am I really trying to say? Because I don’t think what I was trying to say is what happened the year before.”
For Cyrus, this message was so important that she did not tell anyone around her about her plans, even pal Katy Perry, who was seated right beside them inside The Forum. During the show, Cyrus pretended that Jesse was her boyfriend, and Perry responded by trying to get him a drink.
“I’m like, ‘This kid has to give this speech!'” Cyrus recalled. “I’m like, ‘Katy, please don’t get Jesse drunk right now’ … I didn’t want to tell her because I was scared if someone found out, they’d try to stop me … no one knew. The only person I told, because I knew that he would respect it, was Juicy [J], who was sitting next to me. I couldn’t hold it in, I was so excited. I knew that he would respect Jesse and it was cool to have someone there who could keep us both calm.”
The secret was safe with Juicy. Jesse accepted the Video of the Year award on Cyrus’ behalf in his bid to raise awareness for Cyrus’ new fundraising campaign for My Friends Place, a homeless center in Hollywood. “I am accepting this award for the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the United States who are starving, lost and scared for their lives right now. I know this because I’m one of those people,” he told the crowd.
Cyrus added in her interview with Seacrest that she was so nervous for Jesse as he told his story. “The courage that he showed to get up there and give that speech,” she said, “I didn’t know how everyone was going to be and seeing his hands shake, it kind of broke me. I wish they wouldn’t have kept putting the camera on me to make it about me crying. I cry when I’m the happiest.”
As for her Moonman trophy? Cyrus told Seacrest that Jesse gets to keep the statue.
Tell Us: What did you think of the moment?