Firerose is speaking out against what she calls an “aggressive smear campaign” as she prepares to release her first new music since her explosive split from Billy Ray Cyrus.
The Australian singer, 37, said that the country star, 65, kept her isolated on his Tennessee property for years during their relationship, which began when she was just 22. She described the environment as a “farm prison” where she was not permitted to freely come and go from her own home.
“It happens gradually … this is what your life is going to be,” she said. “I didn’t have a car and I wasn’t allowed to just meet friends for coffee, just basic things, go to church or record music, solo music.”
Firerose alleges that Cyrus “physically, strategically, and emotionally completely isolated [me] from everyone who cared about me,” She said the restrictions were imposed so slowly that she initially failed to recognize the pattern. “There were all these rules that I had to follow,” she added.
The pair’s seven-month marriage imploded in 2024, triggering an extraordinarily ugly public war of words. They finalized their divorce that August. During the proceedings, Cyrus accused Firerose of executing a systematic campaign to isolate him from his family, alleging she went into his electronic devices and blocked at least one of his daughters from reaching him.
Firerose makes it clear she is no longer in touch with any of the Cyrus children. Cyrus shares daughters Miley, 33, Noah, 26, and Brandi, 39, with ex-wife Tish.
Cyrus has since reconciled with his kids. Back in October, Miley said Sunday Morning, “My dad and I have had our challenges over the years. Now, in my thirties, family is my priority above all else. Instead of us doing [therapy] sessions, we just do studio sessions.”
She continued, “Now that my mom is so in love with my stepdad… and now that my dad, I see him finding happiness, too — I can love them both as individuals instead of as a parental pairing… My child self has caught up.”
Firerose fired back at the narrative that she was responsible for Cyrus’ rift with his children. “After a while, the amount of lies and the ridiculousness of the lies just all kind of blur together, and that’s just the classic thing of projection and inversion and everything that was actually done to you,” she said.
The singer said she wouldn’t bother repeating some of the “horrible things” said about her, noting they were intended to silence her and make her “essentially erased.” She described her experience as “classic narcissistic abuse.”
“It’s such a mind warp while you’re going through it … everything that you’ve survived is then being put on you,” she said.
Firerose said she is speaking out because she no longer wants false narratives about their marriage to go unchallenged. She also pushed back against the idea of disappearing from the story while Cyrus enjoys a very public romance with actress Elizabeth Hurley.
“I just think about my 22-year-old self, that I was 22-years-old and he was over twice my age, and he began grooming me,” she said. “All I know is my story.”
Her new single, “Phoenix,” explores her relationship with Cyrus through lyrics including, “All deception crumbles under the weight of truth in time,” and, “A diamond’s only formed under a billion years of force.” In a striking twist, the music video was directed by Chris Applebaum — the man behind Miley’s iconic 2009 “Party in the U.S.A.” video. Firerose teamed up with Applebaum after he reached out to her on Instagram after watching her music.
Now living in Los Angeles, she has reconnected with old friends and made new ones, including Crystal Harris, who has spoken out about the issues in her marriage to Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner.
“Not for a second do I take for granted that I am blessed to be free to have deep friendships with people that I can hang out with and be completely myself with,” Firerose shared.
She added, “It’s this obligation for me to be a voice for the voiceless people.”
“I wouldn’t trade having my voice back for anything. Nothing in the world could silence me again.”
