Miley Cyrus has spoken out after being groped by a fan in Barcelona.
Cyrus, who just released her EP She Is Coming, was leaving her hotel earlier this week when she and her husband Liam Hemsworth walked through a mob of fans. One fan grabbed her by the hair and pulled Cyrus in for an attempted kiss. A startled Cyrus is helped out of the crowd by her security team and Hemsworth. (The incident can be seen in a video posted to Twitter.)
E! News reported that a rep for Cyrus claimed she was "unsettled" by the encounter. However, some fans online have taken to calling Cyrus out, claiming that she was "asking" to be groped in some way due to the way she was dressed.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Now, Cyrus has taken to social media directly to address the situation.
Panel show The Talk discussed the groping on their show, where the women reminded fans that no matter what Cyrus was wearing that day or "how many wrecking balls she's swung from," that did not give anyone the right to touch her without her consent.
Cyrus shared a video of The Talk's conversation, seemingly agreeing with the women's defence of her, and all people who are shamed after they are attacked. She added quotes to the pictures to really drive the point home.
"She can be with her husband. She can be with her girlfriend. She can be naked," Cyrus wrote on Instagram.
"She can be wearing what she wants. She can be a virgin. She can be sleeping with five different people," she continued.
Cyrus also shared some of the hateful messages she received after the encounter, and included a line from her new song "Mother's Daughter," which goes: "Don't fuck with my freedom." She also added the hashtag #StillNotAskingForIt.
It's gross how some people will blame women for the violence against them, and care more about what someone was wearing or doing than what happened to their bodies against their will.
It's not fair for Cyrus to be victimised a second time by hateful comments online, though if there's anyone who is always ready to clap back at trolls — it's Cyrus.
Refinery29 has reached out to Cyrus for comment.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT