Miley Cyrus can buy herself “Flowers”
Miley Cyrus used to be one of the biggest celebrity stoners. Let's take a trip down memory lane.
The singer-songwriter, musician, and actress has been a prominent public figure for years.
During her time in the public eye, Miley has been quite open about her cannabis use. Although, it looks like she’s put down the joints in recent years. Her mother, Tish revealed on Chicks in the Office podcast in July 2020 that Miley doesn’t smoke weed anymore, “She smokes CBD only. She doesn’t drink. She’s the cleanest person I know. She’s, like, just so solid.”
Tish added that “Everybody thinks Miley is like this wild thing.” We couldn’t help but perceive her as such when she stepped out of her Disney shell, entered her rebellious era, and landed headlines for smoking salvia and twerking on Robin Thicke. But that just made us love her more.
Today, we’re honoring all that Miley Cyrus is—from Disney pop princess to rebellious weed-smoking rock chick and, finally, the independent and successful mogul she is today.
Early Days
Born Destiny Hope Cyrus in Franklin, Tennessee, her parents often called her “Smiley” for smiling so much as a baby. Naturally, they dropped the S and casually referred to her as Miley until she legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus in 2008.
Daughter of Leticia “Tish” Jean Cyrus and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley had talent coursing through her veins at a young age. And so did her maternal siblings Brandi, Trace, and Noah. Besides appearing in the television series Doc and Tim Burton’s Big Fish, the world didn’t truly get to know Miley until her debut lead role as Miley Stewart and Hannah Montana in 2006.
The show was a hit and maintained popularity well throughout its time on air from 2006 to 2011. It was one of the highest-rated series on basic cable at the time. Over the years, the world watched Miley grow into a charismatic performer whose natural personality would shine through in each episode.
She was becoming an adult right before our eyes, and the headlines agreed. It wasn’t long until Miley found herself in all sorts of controversies, from the notorious Vanity Fair cover to leaked photos in her underwear. All eyes were on Cyrus, including her friends, who ended up leaking a video that instantly changed how we viewed Miley…for the better.
The Infamous Bong Video
The year was 2010, and among other milestones, we certainly won’t forget when a young Cyrus took heat from the press after TMZ got ahold of a video showing Miley taking a bong hit.
The video leaked 13 years ago, sparking one of her most famous controversies. What we didn’t know until recently was that Cyrus was smoking salvia in the video. Salvia is another smokeable plant but does not cause visible effects like red eyes or dilated pupils. It’s slightly similar to weed in terms of uncontrollable laughter, which is precisely what we saw in the video.
The original video was posted five days after Miley‘s 18th birthday, in which she stated she was “having a little bit of a bad trip” but was quickly distracted by friends who helped her get the giggles going.
In 2020, Cyrus posted the same video on Instagram to mark its 10th anniversary. She captioned it, “I remember this like it was yesterday….. J/K I don’t remember shit ’cause I was fucked the hell up.”
A year later, she posted the same TMZ water-marked video to Instagram and captioned it “11 years ago. Can we petition for a national holiday?” We’re certainly on board with that.
"The Best Drug On Earth"
Miley‘s rebellious era was one for the books. From #FreeTheNipple to her memorable performance with Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV VMAs, we couldn’t get enough of Miley. At the time, she couldn’t get enough of weed.
In 2013 at the MTV Europe Music Awards, she sparked a joint on stage when accepting her award for Best Video. That same year, she expressed to Rolling Stone that cannabis is “the best drug on earth,” telling W Magainze in 2014 that “I just love getting stoned.” Relatable.
However, Miley stepped back from cannabis in 2017 when her Younger Now album was ready for release. She said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that she wanted to be “super clean” for the tour.
A few years later, Miley started smoking again. In fact, Miley dipped her toes into the legal cannabis industry in 2019 when she invested in Lowell Herb Co after gifting producer Mark Ronson a weed bouquet for Valentine’s Day from the company.
Sorry, We're Stoned
In late 2019, Miley underwent vocal chord surgery and admitted to refraining from weed and alcohol ever since.
As mentioned, her mother, Tish, said on Chicks In The Office podcast that Miley uses CBD, the non-psychoactive cannabinoid in cannabis that doesn’t produce a high but can relieve stress, anxiety, and pain.
Tish and one of her daughters, Miley‘s sister Brandi spoke on the podcast to talk about their new podcast called Sorry, We’re Stoned. Funny enough, their mother is the biggest stoner in the Cyrus clan, but she didn’t start smoking until she was 42 years old, thanks to Miley.
Tish explained how she and Miley were on their tour bus when it caught on fire, and Tish was too shaken up to fall asleep that night. During Miley‘s prime cannabis era, she couldn’t help but enlighten her mother on weed’s benefits.
“Someone gave me an Ambien, and it made me feel terrible,” said Tish. “So Miley said, ‘I’m telling you, Mom. That’s a chemical. Why are you willing to put that in your body, but you’re not willing to smoke weed, which is natural?’ She said, ‘Mom, just come in the bathroom. Just sit right here. No one is going to know.'”
They headed into the bathroom and closed the door. “I took one puff, and Miley opened the bathroom door. Her entire band was standing in the door, and Miley‘s like, ‘Mom’s smoking pot!'”
From there, Tish was a calm, cool, and collected stoner. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t hate weed back in the day.
“Even a few years ago, I would have never considered smoking pot with my family, but now I do…There are so many benefits to come from it, and again I’m not a drinker,” confessed Tish.
She later put on a Billy Ray accent and imitated her husband, saying, “I can’t believe I had to be a closeted smoker my whole life, and now you’re the biggest pothead in the family.”
Brandi chimed in to add that Tish put up quite the fight when their youngest daughter Noah started smoking weed. “You were livid. You were like, ‘No! She’s turning into Miley; what did I do?'”
Well, Tish, you did the right thing. You and your husband raised several successful, charismatic, and influential people who’ve impacted pop culture as we know it.
Although Miley reportedly no longer smokes weed, her advocacy and experiences with it will remain a celebrated piece of pop culture history.
Flowers
Miley Cyrus’ new single “Flowers” broke the Spotify record for most streams in a single week on the platform with over 96 million streams, landing “Flowers” as the singer’s biggest hit of her career.
