Chappell Roan is fully aware that before she could perform authentically as herself, Miley Cyrus was pushing the boundaries of showmanship and individuality — and taking on the haters.
“You literally walked so I can run,” Roan, 28, told Cyrus, 33, during a surprise appearance on Disney+’s Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special, which debuted on Tuesday, March 24. “What I do on stage, where I can go on a red carpet and just be.”
Cyrus — who was publicly scrutinized after she left Disney Channel and branched out as a musician, especially during her Bangerz era which included risque costumes, explicit lyrics about drug use and gyrating on stage — confessed in a pre-taped segment, “Oh, I was gagged for that.”
Roan was quick to agree with Cyrus that she helped pave the way for women in music because she wasn’t afraid to be herself. (Cyrus portrayed Miley Stewart and Hannah Montana on Disney’s Hannah Montana from 2006 to 2011 before she shed her Disney darling image and became a sexy singer who did things her own way.)
“You took a lot of the heat for that in 2012, 2013,” Roan said of Cyrus’ at times rocky road.
The “Pink Pony Club” singer — who has had her fair share of trouble with paparazzi while being critiqued for her style and lyrics — revealed, “I don’t have to deal with that as much because you really — the world took it out on you. To see you be the artist you are, to be able to do this just shows your heart and your appreciation for your younger self and what got you here.”
While Cyrus appeared receptive to Roan’s compliments, Roan received mixed reactions from fans for her cameo after her recent scandal involving a security guard and a mother-daughter duo in Brazil.
Roan raised eyebrows earlier this month, when soccer player Jorginho claimed his 11-year-old stepdaughter wasn’t allowed to meet the singer. Roan allegedly sent a security guard to handle the situation and accused the young girl of harassment when they were eating at the same hotel in São Paulo. (Jorginho is married to Catherine Harding, who shares daughter Ada with ex Jude Law.)
Roan later took to social media to share her side of the story, claiming she “didn’t even see a woman and a child” while at breakfast.
“No one came up to me, no one bothered me,” Roan said via an Instagram Story video posted on Sunday, March 22. “Like, I was just sitting at breakfast in my hotel, [and] I think these people were staying at the hotel as well.”
The Grammy winner claimed she “did not ask the security guard to go up and talk to this mother and child.”
Roan further alleged that she does not “hate people who are fans of my music. I do not hate children” after receiving backlash for the alleged incident.
“I’m sorry to the mother and child, that someone was assuming something, that you would do something, and if you felt uncomfortable, that makes me really sad,” she said. “You did not deserve that.”
Read the full article here