Photo: via @MileyCyrus
A week after one of Miley Cyrus' backup dancers, Hollis Jane, wrote a scathing piece on her blog about how working with the singer at the MTV VMA's left her "shaking and crying," another little person that performed with Cyrus has come out in defense of the singer.
"[Miley’s] not using anybody. She supports all shapes and sizes. She wants to embrace diversity – everyone’s different. That’s what I love about her. She’s giving us an opportunity," little person Jordanna James told Heat magazine.
And, to counter Jane's claims, Cyrus posted a Twitter photo of herself with three of her littler person backup dancers, with the caption "as long as my bitches love me." Since the incident, Cyrus has performed on The Ellen Degeneres show with a trio of guitarists that included, yes, a little person. Is Cyrus simply an advocate for people of short stature?
Gary Arnold, president of Little People of America, a nonprofit organization that provides support and information to people of short stature and their families, isn't quite buying it. "Though there are many examples of people with dwarfism in roles which put their talents, and not their physical stature, on display, in many cases people of short stature are still recruited as entertainment based upon stature," he said in a statement to Refinery29. "Because of this, individuals with dwarfism who follow their passion into a career in acting and entertainment may be forced to make difficult decisions about what roles to accept. Those decisions will impact not just themselves but the entire community of people with dwarfism."
As for Jane, she seems to be trying to use her negative experience with Cyrus as a lesson. In a recent Reddit AMA session, she wrote, "It's forced me to learn where my line is drawn when it comes to what I will do for money. It taught me that no amount of money is worth my self-worth. (And I got to meet 2Chainz so...not all that bad)."