However, this leads to the second phase of the abuse cycle: self-abuse through lifestyle. The endless partying, the blunt-smoking, the hedonistic Bangerz era—it was fun until it wasn't. In the documentary Miley: The Movement , we saw the exhaustion behind the eyes. The industry had taught her that her value was in performance. So, she performed "wild," performing "broken," performing "unbothered." That is the insidious nature of lifestyle abuse—when you can no longer tell if you are using the drugs or if the lifestyle is using you.
Now, as she buys her own flowers and writes her own narrative, the question isn't whether the industry will change—it rarely does. The question is whether we, the audience, will stop demanding the abuse. Miley has found her peace in the chaos. The rest of us are still trying to catch up. If you or someone you know is struggling with the pressures of fame or substance abuse, help is available.
Today, Cyrus has shifted the paradigm. With Flowers , she famously sang, "I can buy myself flowers." It was an anthem of solo validation, but also a manifesto for legal and emotional boundaries. She has spoken openly about therapy, sobriety (from partying, if not substances entirely), and the radical act of saying "no."
In a rare candid moment on her Used to Be Young TikTok series, Cyrus reflected on the "discipline" of her Disney days. Yet, fans and critics alike heard the subtext: trauma. The "abuse" in Miley’s lifestyle wasn't just the paparazzi's flash; it was the slow erosion of autonomy.
Perhaps the most profound abuse Miley suffered was the loss of her literal instrument. The 2019 "Malibu" fires and the subsequent theft of her home studio were external tragedies, but the internal one was worse: vocal nodules and surgery. She admitted she sang until her voice bled. This is the entertainment industry's favorite trick—convincing talent that rest is failure.
When Cyrus signed her contract at 11, she wasn't just agreeing to a job; she was agreeing to a lifestyle of erasure. The "Hannah" persona was a commodity—a blond wig that suffocated the girl underneath. Entertainment abuse often starts not with a fist, but with a schedule: 12-hour workdays, image clauses that dictate how you speak, how you dress, even how you exist . For Miley, this created a fractured identity. The industry abused her childhood to build a $1 billion franchise, leaving her to clean up the psychological wreckage.
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