Miley Cyrus Tells Real Story of Controversial Vanity Fair Cover

Miley Cyrus is taking a wrecking ball to the critics of her 2008 Vanity Fair cover. 

As part of her ongoing “Used to Be Young” TikTok series in support of her song by the same name, the singer revisited her then-controversial cover in which the then-15-year-old posed topless, covered by a blanket.

“We gotta go there—2008,” she said in her Aug. 30 TikTok. “Everyone knows the controversy of the photo, but they don’t really know the behind-the-scenes, which is always much more meaningful.” 

As Miley, now 30, recalled, her family had been with her on the set. In fact, her then-8-year-old sister Noah Cyrus had been sitting on photographer Annie Leibovitz‘s lap “pushing the button of the camera taking the pictures.” The Disney alum then shared more about the thought-process behind the portrait. 

“This was the first time I ever wore red lipstick because Pati Dubroff, who did my makeup, thought that that would be another element that would divide me from Hannah Montana,” she added. “This image of me as a complete opposite of the bubblegum pop star that I had been known for being and that’s what was so upsetting. But really, really brilliant choices looking back now from those people.”