Tish Cyrus views her family’s involvement with the Disney Channel very differently than her ex-husband, Billy Ray Cyrus.
On Wednesday’s episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, host Alex Cooper asked Miley Cyrus’ mom and her older sister Brandi about a claim Billy Ray made to GQ in 2011 that the show “Hannah Montana,” which starred Miley and Billy Ray, “destroyed my family.”
“Did you guys feel that way?” Cooper asked Tish and Brandi.
“Absolutely not,” Tish said.
“I mean, the family’s not destroyed, first of all,” Brandi said. “We’re doing great.”
Neilson Barnard via Getty Images
When Billy Ray spoke to GQ, he had just filed for divorce from Tish after nearly 30 years of marriage, and his four-season run on the incredibly popular Disney Channel show had recently wrapped. Meanwhile, Miley, whom the show had catapulted to fame, was making headlines for her seemingly wild behavior such as smoking salvia and introducing her young fans to the concept of twerking.
“[‘Hannah Montana’] destroyed my family. I’ll tell you right now — the damn show destroyed my family,” Billy Ray said at the time.
When GQ’s Chris Heath asked Billy Ray if he wished “Hannah Montana” never happened, he replied: “I hate to say it, but yes, I do. Yeah. I’d take it back in a second. For my family to be here and just be everybody okay, safe and sound and happy and normal, would have been fantastic. Heck, yeah. I’d erase it all in a second if I could.”
Barry King via Getty Images
Tish seemed unbothered by these comments on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, and shrugged them off as her ex “having a moment.” It should be noted that elsewhere in the podcast interview, Tish opened up about how difficult the divorce had been on her as well.
Tish implied to Cooper that “Hannah Montana” actually benefited their family.
“I’m trying to be politically correct,” she said, before describing the family’s financial situation prior to their Mickey Mouse payday.
“I mean, he had done ‘Achy Breaky’ and nothing else was working,” Tish said of Billy Ray’s 1992 country hit “Achy Breaky Heart.” “And then I brought Miley out to audition for ‘Hannah’ and she had gotten it, and then one of the casting directors said a joke, like, ‘Too bad we can’t afford her real dad!’ And I said, ‘Oh, maybe you can.’”
Tish then explained that when Miley scored the role on “Hannah Montana,” she was already “stressed” because her family was traveling a lot in support of Billy Ray’s career, and it was “really hard on the kids.”
“I said to Billy Ray, ‘You should come audition for the dad,’ because they love you and they’re really interested. Yes, it would be a pay cut, but our family could be together.”
Tish added that because of Miley and Billy Ray’s busy schedule on the show, she felt like a “single mom” to her five children — a sentiment with which Brandi immediately agreed.
“I look back on it, and I honestly don’t know how I did it,” Tish said. “It was not easy … But I just made it work, and I took the kids. I mean, it was a sacrifice for everyone [in the family].”
Head over to “Call Her Daddy” to hear Tish Cyrus’ interview in full.
