While taking a stroll down memory lane, Miley Cyrus reflects on her controversial Bangerz era during her Disney Legend speech.
During the exciting induction, which took place at Disney’s D23 fan convention in Anaheim, California, on Sunday, Aug. 11, Cyrus spoke about how she used that era as a way to ditch the wholesome Hannah Montana image.
“In 2005, Disney was on a mission to rebuild and reimagine the company,” she shared, “That’s why they hired [Disney CEO] Bob Iger and me.”
Miley Cyrus starred as Hannah Montana in the teen series from 2006 to 2011. She recalled auditioning for the role at Dinsey’s Burbank, California office. She even joked it’s “rumored” that’s where “they created all of us Disney kids.”
“I definitely wasn’t created in a lab,” Cyrus clarified. “But if I was, there must’ve been a bug in the system which caused me to malfunction somewhere between the years of 2013 and [20]16.”
Miley Cyrus was referencing her Bangerz era. Following the end of Hannah Montana, she decided to move on from Disney years in the most anti-Hannah way.
Following the release of the album, Cyrus posed nude for the “Wrecking Ball” music video. She then performed her infamous twerking dance with Robin Thicke during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.
Despite trying to move away from her good girl image, Cyrus said she stands proud to have been Hannah Montana. “In so many ways, this award is dedicated to Hannah and all of her amazing loyal fans, and to everyone who has made my dream a reality. To quote the legend herself, ‘This is the life.’”
Miley Cyrus Previously Opened Up About Transitioning From ‘Hannah Montana’ to ‘Bangerz’
In a 2015 interview with The New York Times, Miley Cyrus opened up about her transition from playing Hannah Montana to releasing her “Bangerz” album and her controversial award show dance.
“Everything I’ve ever done has been true to me at that minute,” she explained about the award show dance. “Even down to my TV show — when I started I was 12 years old, and that was like a dream to me. So that was my truth at that moment.”
She continued by noting, “Me coming out of that teddy bear, to me, wasn’t just a teddy bear. My dad always explained it to me that you step into your happiness. That’s kind of like what I was doing.”
“When I broke down the bear belly, I was really breaking out — my show ended, and then I didn’t really work for two years. That’s when I did my most self-exploration. [The performance] was kind of going into this way of saying, ‘I’m just going to do what will make me happy.’ At that moment, that’s what really made me happy.”