Miley Cyrus admittedly enjoys leaving fans feeling “confused” after they watch her music videos. — Confusion seemed to be the overall consensus after the Grammy-nominee sent a bold message to her exes at the end of her new “Prisoner” music video, featuring Dua Lipa. It read, “In Loving Memory of My Exes. Eat Sh-t,” which Miley explained in a new interview was about drawing attention to herself, rather than anyone from her past.
“I think life can be very painful and sometimes poking fun at it and laughing along with it — like I feel like life is laughing at me, you know, pulling its strings,” Miley, 28, told Lisa Wilkinson of the Australian news program, The Project. The artist did not name any of her exes. “Just creating whatever chaos that it wants to and it doesn’t take it easy on us.”
She continued, “So, I think that was a way that I was able to kind of fight back at that and poke a little fun at it and create something that was campy and that was kind of the perfect bookend for what we made.”
Miley went on to explain why the music video for “Prisoner” is also a nod to female empowerment. “I feel this video is a tribute to girl power at its finest, being directed by two females under 30, and Dua being the power presence that she is in the music industry,” she said. At one point in the 6-minute interview, Miley added that she’s “merging glamour and sexuality into sex and rock and roll” with her latest music — having noted, “I like to leave a mark.”
Before she set the record straight, many fans assumed the mysterious message at the end of “Prisoner” was a way for Miley to throw shade at her most recent exes, Cody Simpson and Liam Hemsworth. Following Miley’s August 2019 split and eventual divorce from Liam, she moved on with Cody in October. The singers, who’d been longtime friends, dated for nearly a year before they called it quits around August 2020. Before Cody, Miley also had a brief romance with Brody Jenner‘s ex-wife, Kaitlynn Carter.
In a separate interview with Howard Stern on December 2, Miley explained that there was “too much conflict” in her relationship with Liam for it to last. Ultimately, the singer will always have love for the Hunger Games actor. “I really do and did love him very, very, very much and still do, always will,” Miley said.