Miley Cyrus Says This Viral 2009 Paparazzi Photo Should've Indicated She's Bisexual

A picture is worth 1,000 words. According to Miley Cyrus, there's one in particular that speaks volumes. While looking back on old memories for her "Used to Be Young" TikTok interview series, Cyrus came across an especially iconic photo of herself walking with Taylor Swift, Emily Osment, and Demi Lovato. "This picture has become a meme," she explained. The meme — which reads "be the Miley of your friend group" — references Cyrus's super-casual outfit and its direct contrast to her group's fancy cocktail dresses. "If you guys didn't know I was bisexual from this damn picture," she joked, "I don't know what's wrong with you."

After noticing laughter off-camera, Cyrus defended her reaction, saying she was only stating the obvious and offering a bit more context. "I mean, hello! Look at 'em," she said, flipping the photo around for everyone to see. To her point, the shot shows Cyrus dressed in sweatpants, floppy UGG boots, and a gray cardigan, while Swift, Osment, and Lovato wore red-carpet-worthy looks. "I literally think we were leaving the Grammys to go to The Cheesecake Factory," Cyrus said. In actuality, the group were photographed following the 2009 premiere of "Hannah Montana: The Movie." Still, as Cyrus pointed out, "These are some classy ladies."

Cyrus — who currently identifies as queer — came out as pansexual in 2015. She's since spoken at length about her past relationships and sexuality. "My whole life, I didn't understand my own gender and my own sexuality. I always hated the word 'bisexual,' because that's even putting me in a box. I don't ever think about someone being a boy or someone being a girl," she told Variety in 2016.

In her 2019 Vanity Fair cover story, Cyrus reiterated that gender is "almost irrelevant" when it comes to her relationships. "People fall in love with people, not gender, not looks, not whatever," she said. "What I'm in love with exists on almost a spiritual level." Cyrus's sexuality is something she's known about herself since she was young, but according to her, the rest of us probably should've caught on a lot sooner.