Under fire. Miley Cyrus spoke out amid backlash for comments she made about her past relationships during an Instagram Live with her boyfriend, Cody Simpson.
“I was taking s–t about sucky guys, but let me clear, YOU don’t CHOOSE your sexuality,” the 26-year-old musician wrote in a note shared on Monday, October 21, via Twitter. “You are born as you are. It has always been my priority to protect the LGBTQ community I am a part of. Happy Monday!”
Cyrus made headlines for throwing shade at her estranged husband, Liam Hemsworth, during the Sunday, October 20, livestream with Simpson, 22.
“There are good people out there that just happen to have d–ks. I’ve only ever met one, and he’s on this live,” the Hannah Montana alum said. “You don’t have to be gay, there are good people with d–ks out there … you’ve just got to find them. You’ve got to find a d–k that’s not a d–k, you know.”
Cyrus, who has referred to herself as queer in the past, continued: “I always thought I had to be gay, because I thought all guys were evil, but it’s not true.”
Social media users were quick to criticize Cyrus for her remarks.
“Miley Cyrus saying ‘you don’t have to be gay, there’s good d–k out there’ is bad on so many levels,” one user tweeted. “Let’s not reinforce the belief that women ‘turn gay’ because of problematic experiences with men, nor the idea that sexuality is a choice.”
A second person wrote, “@MileyCyrus maybe don’t encourage the stereotype that being gay is a choice. It’s not.”
“The miley cyrus video makes it seem like it’s a choice to be gay, like we CHOOSE to like the same gender,” a third user tweeted. “Like no, it’s comments like this that make the ‘its just a phase’ phrase sting a whole lot more.”
Other fans, however, stood up for the former Disney star.
“You don’t have to explain yourself they just lack sense of humor,” one user replied to Cyrus’ apology.
“You don’t need to clear things!” a second fan tweeted. “It was obvious that u made a joke. Queen we know that u are the first person to support lgbt! Please don’t let anyone and those comments bring u down❤️.”
Cyrus and Simpson were first linked earlier this month. During the aforementioned Instagram Live, the couple revealed that they kissed years ago.
The “Slide Away” singer’s romance with the Australian musician comes amid her divorce from Hemsworth, 29. The estranged spouses, who tied the knot in December 2018, called it quits in August. Cyrus and Hemsworth dated on and off for a decade before exchanging vows.
