Newstalk's The Green Room presenter Orla Barry joined Jonathan Healy on Newstalk Lunchtime today to explain the fiasco. Listen to the full discussion below.
UPDATE #3:
Sinead O'Connor has now written a third open letter to Miley Cyrus in which she has refused the pop singer's offer to meet, and threatens to bring legal proceedings against her.
US toy company HeroBuilder has made a Miley Cyrus twerking action figure featuring a "bobble butt" that actually wiggles
Miley,
I have no interest whatsoever in meeting you. You had plenty of time yesterday to abuse Amanda Bynes .. an entirely innocent party.. and myself.. who also did nothing to deserve your abuse.. along with every other sufferer of mental health problems and every person who suffered abuse at the hands of priests.
You can take five minutes today between g- string fuckin’ changes to publicly apologise and remove your abusive tweets. If you do not then you don’t give a shit who you mock and what damage you do by being so ignorant.
When you publicly apologise to Amanda and myself and all mental health sufferers as well as all who were abused by priests that will end the matter as far as I am concerned.
What you did yesterday was designed to damage me and my career and has caused me enormous distress and harrassment and has potential to damage my career, since you deliberately gave the impression those tweets of mine are not two years old but reflect my current condition. If you do not apologise I will have no choice but to bring legal proceedings against you, since it is extremely hard to be given work when people think one is suffering from mental illness.
I have no interest in or desire to cause you trouble but if you do not apologise for having deliberately tried to cause me hurt and trouble personally and professionally I will have to bring pressure upon you.
Be a proper woman and make the public apologies I have listed above. Your hosting SNL is a bullshit reason for not taking five minutes to do the right thing and your behaviour yesterday will rebound upon you very badly.
You have no business abusing Amanda Bynes or anyone else. How do you think you made her feel yesterday? How do you feel when your friend Britney Spears is mocked and humiliated for having had mental health problems? I know I personally want to bash those who treat her that way. If she is your friend and more importantly if you are a true friend to her.. you ought apologise for joining those who mock and humiliate women who have been too nice frankly, to manage the music business without sensibly losing their minds.
Cease behaving in an anti-female capacity. You will become the victim of it shortly. Soon it will be you the media ‘crazy’ .. and you will not enjoy it.. and when you end up in the psych ward or rehab.. which is inevitable if you keep upon the path you are currently treading.. you will appreciate people like myself standing up for you. Which I will be happy to do.. if you earn my respect today by apologising publicly.
I can’t imagine your parents being at all proud of what you did yesterday.
UPDATE #2:
Soon after Miley Cyrus responded to her first open letter via Twitter (see below), Sinead O' Connor wrote a second open letter, telling Miley that she "really could do with educating" herself. Once again we've reproduced the full letter below.
A picture from Miley Cyrus' latest photo shoot
Miley… Really? Who the f—k is advising you? Because taking me on is even more f—kin’ stupid than behaving like a prostitute and calling it feminism. You have posted today tweets of mine which are two years old, which were posted by me when I was unwell and seeking help so as to make them look like they are recent. In doing so you mock myself and Amanda Bynes for having suffered with mental health issues and for having sought help.
I mean really really… who advises you? have you any idea how stupid and dangerous it is to mock people for suffering illness? You will yourself one day suffer such illness, that is without doubt. The course you have set yourself upon can only end in that, trust me.
I am staggered that any 20 yr old woman of the 21st century could behave in such a dangerous and irresponsible manner as to not only send the signal to young women that its ok to act like prostitutes but also to the signal that those who have suffered or do suffer mental health problems are to be mocked and have their opinions invalidated. Have you no sense of danger at all? or responsibility? Remove your tweets immediately or you will hear from my lawyers. I am certain you will be hearing from all manner of mental health advocacy groups also. It is not acceptable to mock any person for having suffered.
It is most unbecoming of you to respond in such a fashion to someone who expressed care for you. And worse that you are such an anti-female tool of the anti-female music industry. I hope that you will apologise to Amanda Bynes and to any person who has been wounded by your mockery of those who have suffered. And I hope that you will wake up and understand that you in fact are a danger to women.
Furthermore you posted a photo of me tearing the pope’s photo .. as if to imply insanity.. by doing so all you have achieved is to expose your staggering ignorance. I suggest you read The Philadelphia Report, The Boston Report, all the reports which will illuminate for you why that action of mine remains sane and valid. By mocking it you mock every child who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of priests and had it covered by the Vatican. You could really do with educating yourself, that is if you’re not too busy getting your tits out to read.
Miley then responded to this open letter, again on Twitter, this time directly addressing O'Connor and suggesting they get together to discuss all of this further:
Sinead. I don't have time to write you an open letter cause Im hosting & performing on SNL this week.
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) October 3, 2013
So if youd like to meet up and talk lemme know in your next letter. :)
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) October 3, 2013
UPDATE: Miley Cyrus has responded to Sinead O'Connor's letter on Twitter.
The former Hannah Montana star posted the following tweets - one featuring a selection of the troubled Irish singer's eclectic messages, the second a picture taken from O'Connor's 1992 appearance on Saturday Night Live when she tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II and claimed he was "evil".
Before Amanda Bynes.... There was.... pic.twitter.com/6JZPVnunPc
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) October 3, 2013
#SNL pic.twitter.com/6Cq9pewEO0
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) October 3, 2013
Originally posted at 11:19am on Thursday October 3rd
Sinead O'Connor has told Miley Cyrus to "kindly fire any motherf**ker who hasn't expressed alarm" over her antics in her latest video.
While the former Disney star made headlines in August for her now infamous VMA performance, O'Connor was referring to Cyrus' music video for "Wrecking Ball," in which the 20-year-old licks a sledgehammer and rides a wrecking ball naked.
O'Connor posted an open letter to the singer on her website - which has since crashed due to high traffic - in response to Cyrus revealing in a Rolling Stone interview that she based part of the video on O'Connor's iconic "Nothing Compares 2 U" video from 1990.
The scene in question features a closeup of Cyrus' face as she sings, much in the same vein as the instantly recognisable "Nothing Compares 2 U" video, but where O'Connor sheds tears over her late mother, Cyrus admitted she is crying over her dead dog.
A screenshot from Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U" video from 1990
""When I was on the video set, I was thinking about my dog, [Lila], that had passed away," Cyrus told a Seattle radio station
O'Connor - who recently got the letters "B" and "Q" tattooed on either cheek after falling out with a man - warns Cyrus that "the music business doesn’t give a s*** about you, or any of us. They will prostitute you for all you are worth, and cleverly make you think its what YOU wanted."
We've reproduced the full letter below. It's worth a read, not least for its insights into what life is really like for world-famous female musicians - at least according to Sinead O'Connor.
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 its 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 shit 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 ogling you give a shit 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 fuck about you. All the more true when you unwittingly give the impression you don’t give much of a fuck about yourself. And when you employ people who give the impression they don’t give much of a fuck 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 it’s 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 fuck 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.. its 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 motherfucker who hasn’t expressed alarm, because they don’t care about you.
And here's the music video in question:
