Q: Did singer Miley Cyrus accuse President Trump’s fans of “destroying” her career?
A: No. There is no record of the singer making such claims.
FULL ANSWER
In Miley Cyrus’ hit 2013 song “Wrecking Ball,” the pop singer exclaims: “All you ever did was wreck me / Yeah, you, you wreck me.”
But the former Disney star wasn’t preemptively speaking about supporters of President Donald Trump. And she also hasn’t made claims, as some stories circulating online falsely report, that his supporters are “destroying” her career.
“Singer Miley Cyrus: ‘Trump Fans are Destroying My Career’” reads a March 12 headline on urduchanel.com. The website doesn’t include author or publisher information — signs of potentially false news — and is registered to an individual in Saudi Arabia.
The story, repeated on other questionable sites, was shared on Facebook and reported by users as possibly fake. It is.
“She is not satisfied about her current career status and she is blaming Trump supporters for that,” the story alleged, citing no sources. “She is not one of the top-selling artists anymore and she is convinced that Trump fans have something to do with that.”
The post begins by attributing quotes — many of which have been slightly altered — to an interview the celebrity did with Billboard in May 2017. It then goes on to include quotes by Cyrus that we couldn’t find in that interview, or anywhere else.
“I’m sure that they have something to do with this. The amount of hate that I receive is unbelievable,” the dubious post quotes Cyrus as saying. “If this continues I’m gonna leave the US and go to Australia or wherever. I swear. At least while Trump is here. He’s not my President.”
Cyrus did say publicly in 2016 that she would leave the country if Trump was elected, and she did support Hillary Clinton. (She favored Sen. Bernie Sanders before that.)
After the election, though, she posted a tear-filled video on Twitter in which she said she accepted Trump as president. In later interviews, she made it clear she didn’t have plans to move.
“It’s not time for me to leave now, dude,” she told Billboard in the interview. “I’ve got to be here. I’ve got to glue this place back together, because I’m from Tennessee — that state [went to] Donald Trump.”
And she talked about the need for unity.
“I like the way I think right now. But don’t Trump supporters like the way they think?” she said. “So I’ve also got to be open with the way I approach people with my opinions. That’s the only way to make real change.”
The story is far from the first to spread manufactured quotes attributed to a celebrity. Earlier this month, a fake and viral story about Keanu Reeves praising Trump used the same fictitious quote previously tied to actors Russell Crowe and Geoffrey Rush.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to help identify and label false stories flagged by readers on the social media network.
Sources
Hale Spencer, Saranac. “Keanu Reeves Didn’t Praise Trump.” FactCheck.org. 9 Mar 2018.
Norris, John. “Miley Cyrus Breaks Silence on Rootsy New Music, Fiance Liam Hemsworth & America: ‘Unity Is What We Need.’” Billboard. 3 May 2017.
Reilly, Nick. “Miley Cyrus reveals why she didn’t leave America after Donald Trump became President.” NME.com. 29 Sep 2017.
“Singer Miley Cyrus: ‘Trump Fans Are Destroying My Career.’” urduchanel.com. 12 Mar 2018.
“Singer Miley Cyrus: ‘Trump Fans Are Destroying My Career, I Can’t Stand Them And I Decided To Move To…” alartsforusa.com. 8 Mar 2018.
“urduchanel.com.” whois.com. Accessed 20 Mar 2018.