Miley Cyrus celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the video on social media. Photo / Getty Images
Miley Cyrus celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the video on social media. Photo / Getty Images
An unapologetic Miley Cyrus has today celebrated the 10-year anniversary of a leaked video that once threatened to derail her career.
The former Hannah Montana Disney starlet courted controversy in December 2010 when footage leaked online showing her, five days after 18th birthday, using a bong to smoke the psychoactivedrug salvia. The footage was filmed by a friend, and showed Cyrus, laughing and drug-affected, announcing that she'd had a "bad trip."
The video came as Cyrus was trying to ditch her teen Disney image, prompting her to lose an endorsement deal with Walmart - and even cop a public dressing down from her own father, singer Billy Ray Cyrus.
"Sorry guys," Billy Ray tweeted to fans as the video circulated. "I had no idea. I'm so sad. There is much beyond my control right now."
Ten years on, and the once-infamous video is now a distant memory in a long line of Cyrus controversies. And despite - or perhaps because of - all that controversy, her career is going stronger than ever, with a new album, Plastic Hearts, riding high in the charts.
Tweeting out footage from the video herself today, Cyrus wrote: "Happy 10 year anniversary to the groundbreaking video of a teenager smoking a bong & saying dumb s**t to their friends. (Not so sure the director of this fine film should be considered a 'friend' but …)."
In a follow-up tweet, Cyrus wrote: "Time really flew by. I remember this like it was yesterday..... J/K I don't remember s**t cause I was f**ked the hell up. #YesItWasReallySalvia #IfYouFindWeedThatDoesThisToYouSHARE."
Miley Cyrus in 2010. Photo / Getty Images
It seems the passage of time has helped Cyrus to make peace with the video - in a Marie Claire interview shortly after it first leaked, she referred to it as a "mistake... I'm disappointed in myself for disappointing my fans."
It's been a busy 12 months for Cyrus, who's gone through a divorce from partner of 10 years, Aussie actor Liam Hemsworth, and a new relationship with another Aussie, Cody Simpson, which ended after several months.
In an interview on The Project last week, Cyrus spoke about how her high-profile break-ups had informed her new album - including the pointed message she included at the end of her latest music video.
"In loving memory of all my exes, eat sh*t," a message reads during her Prisoner music video.
Cyrus told The Project it wasn't to be taken too seriously.
"I think life can be very painful sometimes so poking fun at it and laughing along with it …" she began.
"Like, I always feel like it's (life) laughing at me, you know, pulling strings, just creating whatever chaos it wants to and it doesn't take it easy on us, and I think that (message) was a way that I was able to fight back at that and poke a little fun at it."
