Open Letter from Sinead O'Connor to Miley Cyrus

[Greeny]

I don't give a stuff about Cyrus, but this is an eloquent and interesting read...

Dear Miley,

I wasn't going to write this letter, but today i've been dodging phone calls from various newspapers who wished me to remark upon your having said in Rolling Stone your "Wrecking Ball" video was designed to be similar to the one for "Nothing Compares" ... So this is what I need to say ... And it is said in the spirit of motherliness and with love.

I am extremely concerned for you that those around you have led you to believe, or encouraged you in your own belief, that it is in any way "cool" to be naked and licking sledgehammers in your videos. It is in fact the case that you will obscure your talent by allowing yourself to be pimped, whether it's the music business or yourself doing the pimping.

Nothing but harm will come in the long run, from allowing yourself to be exploited, and it is absolutely NOT in ANY way an empowerment of yourself or any other young women, for you to send across the message that you are to be valued (even by you) more for your sexual appeal than your obvious talent.

I am happy to hear I am somewhat of a role model for you and I hope that because of that you will pay close attention to what I am telling you.

The music business doesn't give a sh– about you, or any of us. They will prostitute you for all you are worth, and cleverly make you think its what YOU wanted.. and when you end up in rehab as a result of being prostituted, "they" will be sunning themselves on their yachts in Antigua, which they bought by selling your body and you will find yourself very alone.

None of the men oggling you give a sh– about you either, do not be fooled. Many's the woman mistook lust for love. If they want you sexually that doesn't mean they give a f— about you. All the more true when you unwittingly give the impression you don't give much of a f— about yourself. And when you employ people who give the impression they don't give much of a f— about you either. No one who cares about you could support your being pimped.. and that includes you yourself.

Yes, I'm suggesting you don't care for yourself. That has to change. You ought be protected as a precious young lady by anyone in your employ and anyone around you, including you. This is a dangerous world. We don't encourage our daughters to walk around naked in it because it makes them prey for animals and less than animals, a distressing majority of whom work in the music industry and its associated media.

You are worth more than your body or your sexual appeal. The world of showbiz doesn't see things that way, they like things to be seen the other way, whether they are magazines who want you on their cover, or whatever.. Don't be under any illusions.. ALL of them want you because they're making money off your youth and your beauty.. which they could not do except for the fact your youth makes you blind to the evils of show business. If you have an innocent heart you can't recognise those who do not.

I repeat, you have enough talent that you don't need to let the music business make a prostitute of you. You shouldn't let them make a fool of you either. Don't think for a moment that any of them give a flying f— about you. They're there for the money.. we're there for the music. It has always been that way and it will always be that way. The sooner a young lady gets to know that, the sooner she can be REALLY in control.

You also said in Rolling Stone that your look is based on mine. The look I chose, I chose on purpose at a time when my record company were encouraging me to do what you have done. I felt I would rather be judged on my talent and not my looks. I am happy that I made that choice, not least because I do not find myself on the proverbial rag heap now that I am almost 47 yrs of age.. which unfortunately many female artists who have based their image around their sexuality, end up on when they reach middle age.

Real empowerment of yourself as a woman would be to in future refuse to exploit your body or your sexuality in order for men to make money from you. I needn't even ask the question.. I've been in the business long enough to know that men are making more money than you are from you getting naked. It's really not at all cool. And it's sending dangerous signals to other young women. Please in future say no when you are asked to prostitute yourself. Your body is for you and your boyfriend. It isn't for every spunk-spewing dirtbag on the net, or every greedy record company executive to buy his mistresses diamonds with.

As for the shedding of the Hannah Montana image.. whoever is telling you getting naked is the way to do that does absolutely NOT respect your talent, or you as a young lady. Your records are good enough for you not to need any shedding of Hannah Montana. She's waaaaaaay gone by now.. Not because you got naked but because you make great records.

Whether we like it or not, us females in the industry are role models and as such we have to be extremely careful what messages we send to other women. The message you keep sending is that it's somehow cool to be prostituted.. it's so not cool Miley.. it's dangerous. Women are to be valued for so much more than their sexuality. we aren't merely objects of desire. I would be encouraging you to send healthier messages to your peers.. that they and you are worth more than what is currently going on in your career. Kindly fire any motherf—er who hasn't expressed alarm, because they don't care about you.

[Mike_S]

Thanks for posting... interesting read all right... haven't seen the videos she is talking about but this is pretty common now in how young female artists present themselves... problem is the majority of the people that listen / watch them are very young indeed.

[Ferryman_1957]

Well said Sinead.

[Gnasty]

A very sensible letter. All I have to say is if you have a teenage daughter and she thinks that 
Miley Cyrus is a dirty, nasty, sleazy hoe. Then you breathe a sigh of relief!

[Flash Harry]

I heard the hype, I avoided the video, I have new respect for Sinead O'Connor.

Listen to her Miley - she knows that talent and skill is enough.

[AndyR]

Very interesting letter, very interesting indeed.

I learnt two things reading it:

1. Sinead O'Connor says some very sensible stuff, and I would strongly recommend this Miley Cyrus person listens to her...

2. Miley Cyrus turns out to be the name of a girl... who knew?! I thought it was a boy's name... Andrew has his finger firmly on the pulse of popular culture again ... at least I was aware this Cyrus person had something to do with popular music, even if I have no idea what he/she looks like or sounds like...

[Hilary]

Oh I've been trying to stay away from this since it was first published 

so many things to say, not necessarily in the right order

1. Miley Cyrus' vid at the start is, indeed, very much like Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares to You vid.

2. I've seen Miley's vid and I didn't think it was that bad - she doesn't flash anything.

3. Sinead's no stranger to controversy herself.

4. Miley Cyrus is 21 next month and been in the business for years (and so has her father) - they know what they are doing and they know how to milk it.

5. I find Sinead's assumptions that Miley won't make any money out of it and that all the producers etc in the industry are male extremely irritating and sexist.

6. No-one's making a fuss about Robin Thicke using naked women (flashing everything) in his video for Blurred Lines to make a name for himself when he's been on the fringe of the industry for years - at least Miley is only using herself.

7. Cut her some slack, she's had to grow up in the public eye (she's an ex child-star) and everyone in the industry that is attractive, uses what they have to some degree or another (the boys just as much as the girls nowadays)

[Oldrottenhead]

i wonder if sinead has a new cd coming out?

[Gnasty]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6Lb3kFwJRQ

[Hilary]

I'd love to think I'd be able to stop my children doing something when they are 20/21 but the truth is, I probably won't know about it, least of all be able to stop them and there are plenty of ex child-stars that are dead because they went off the rails.

You mention 2 stars - well I could list plenty that have pulled off (no pun intended) worse stunts than that to get a bit of media attention. At the VLAs on the same night as the sponge finger episode, Lady Gaga performed in a G-string bikini - no-one batted an eyelid.

I hope she's not heading for a meltdown and it's just a phase (look at Madonna and that adult book she did - I've never seen it but I'm led to believe it was sexually explicit).

You might not like what she does, but it is her body and her decision and your choice not to watch.

There are loads of wrecking ball parodies out there - including plenty of naked men replicating the vid trying to cash in on her and grab a bit of limelight themselves.