Miley Cyrus says VMAs director made sexist comment about her performance

Miley Cyrus knows what she wants.

Chatting with Joe Rogan on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the “Midnight Sky” singer spoke about a sexist experience she faced with the directors of her MTV Video Music Awards performance last Sunday.

“I was just asking some questions, not even on some diva s—,” said the star, 27. “I wanted the lights to be turned off and then the lighting of the room to just be lighting me. So no key light, no beauty light. The beauty light is always used on women and I said turn the f——g lights off. You would never tell Travis Scott or Adam Levine that he couldn’t turn the beauty light off.”

“They said, ‘Okay, we’ll just do the same thing that we would do with the guys,’ because that’s what I want,” she continued. “And then something that I was doing … for the VMAs, my bracelets kept getting caught in all this s— and they said, ‘You want to be treated like a guy? We wouldn’t be dealing with this if a guy was doing it.'”

A rep for the VMAs did not immediately return a request for comment.

Cyrus was seemingly referring to the moment where she rides a large disco ball reminiscent of her iconic “Wrecking Ball” music video.

“And I said, ‘Well, a guy wouldn’t be doing this because a guy doesn’t sell your show with sex the way that I’m going to,'” she said. “And I’m aware of that. It’s a ridiculous conversation and also embarrassing.

"The VMAs is a pop culture show celebrating pop culture, and I wanted to bring that especially in this time of COVID-19 [with] all these at-home performances,” she said. “I want to give my fans escapism good old pop culture. This is surrealism.”

The comedian-turned-podcast-host later asked the “Malibu” singer how she’s able to ensure that her artistic vision makes its way on to the stage.

“The balance that I’ve found is firm and kind. I don’t lose my kindness, but also don’t become a mat, but I am firm about what I want,” she said. “In a way, you might expect someone [to say] ‘She was a diva, she was a bitch,’ but okay like have The Weeknd come in here and say the same thing, or Kanye is like a creative God and it’s like, come on, why am I not getting that I’m a creative mastermind but I’m becoming a bitch?”

“No one would ever say that about Kanye West choosing what lighting he wants on a performance,” she added.

On the same podcast, Cyrus revealed that her voice shifted after the wildfires that ravaged Southern California in 2018.

“It’s coming out in a whole other way,” said the “Slide Away” singer, who lost her home in the fire. “You know, I look at things different. I’m very different, and honestly, my voice changed a lot after the fire. I could sing better after the fire. It was almost like it unleashed something.”

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