Sinead O'Connor Writes Open Letter To Miley Cyrus, Ignites Feud; O'Connor Calls Cyrus 'Anti-Female,' Threatens Legal Action

by UInterviewOctober 4, 2013, 12:00 amNews >

Sinead O’Connor and Miley Cyrus are in a heated feud after exchanging public criticisms this week; O’Connor is furious and claims that Cyrus is anti-women and is promoting sexism and mocking mental illness.

It all began on Wednesday when O’Connor published an open letter to Cyrus in response to Cyrus’ statement that her “Wrecking Ball” video was inspired by O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2U.”

O’Connor wasted no time getting straight to the point, cautioning Cyrus against allowing herself to be “prostituted” by the music industry. O’Connor scolds Cyrus for proudly putting out the image of herself as an overtly sexual young woman as she believes it brings her no respect or credit, despite what Cyrus may think.

“Nothing but harm will come in the long run, from allowing yourself to be exploited, and it is absolutely NOT in ANY way an empowerment of yourself or any other young women, for you to send across the message that you are to be valued (even by you) more for your sexual appeal that your obvious talent,” O’Connor wrote.

O’Connor continues, saying that Cyrus has enough talent not to “prostitute” herself to sell records. She ends the letter with a strong message, accusing Cyrus of representing a culture that promotes the prostitution of women:

“Whether we like it or not, us females in the industry are role models and as such we have to be extremely careful what messages we send to other women. The message you keep sending is that its somehow cool to be prostituted.. its so not cool Miley.. its dangerous. Women are to be valued for so much more than their sexuality. We aren’t merely objects of desire. I would be encouraging you to send healthier messages to your peers.. that they and you are worth more than what is currently going on in your career. Kindly fire any motherf—er who hasn’t expressed alarm, because they don’t care about you.”

Cyrus took offense to O’Connor’s tough love letter and responded by tweeting a screen capture of O’Connor’s Twitter meltdown from January 2012, comparing O’Connor to the troubled Amanda Bynes.

Cyrus followed up her comeback by tweeting a picture from O’Connor’s turn as Saturday Night Live host in 1992, in which she tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II. She captioned the photo with “#SNL” – Cyrus is hosting the comedy show this Saturday.

O’Connor was prompted to pen another open letter to Cyrus, this one far less encouraging that the first.

“Miley… Really? Who the f—k is advising you? Because taking me on is even more f—in’ stupid than behaving like a prostitute and calling it feminism. You have posted today tweets of mine which are two years old, which were posted by me when I was unwell and seeking help so as to make them look like they are recent. In doing so you mock myself and Amanda Bynes for having suffered with mental health issues and for having sought help,” O’Connor begins.

O’Connor warns Cyrus that she has made a grave error in, what O’Connor perceives as her decision to “mock” mental illness. (O’Connor suffers from bipolar disorder.)

“You will yourself one day suffer such illness, that is without doubt. The course you have set yourself upon can only end in that, trust me,” O’Connor states.

O’Connor even threatened Cyrus with legal action if she did not delete the Tweets in question:

“I am staggered that any 20 yr old woman of the 21st century could behave in such a dangerous and irresponsible manner as to not only send the signal to young women that it’s ok to act like prostitutes but also to the signal that those who have suffered or do suffer mental health problems are to be mocked and have their opinions invalidated. Have you no sense of danger at all? Or responsibility? Remove your tweets immediately or you will hear from my lawyers.”

O’Connor echoed her statements on her official Facebook page, declaring that she would be sending her lawyers after Cyrus soon.

Cyrus again responded via Twitter, extending an olive branch to the Irish songstress, offering to meet with her to discuss what O’Connor finds troublesome, writing, “if youd like to meet up and talk lemme know in your next letter.”

O’Connor responded swiftly on Friday, writing a third open letter to Cyrus: “Miley, I have no interest whatsoever in meeting you.”

O’Connor insists that all she wants from Cyrus is a public apology for her Tweets, and she claims that Cyrus’ actions may be damaging to her career and constitute harassment.

“What you did yesterday was designed to damage me and my career and has caused me enormous distress and harassment and has potential to damage my career, since you deliberately gave the impression those tweets of mine are not two years old but reflect my current condition. If you do not apologize I will have no choice but to bring legal proceedings against you, since it is extremely hard to be given work when people think one is suffering from mental illness.”

O’Connor also tried to appeal to Cyrus’ friendship with Britney Spears, saying it should open her eyes to caring for people with mental illnesses, and then reiterated her prediction that Cyrus will end up suffering from mental illness if she does not change her ways:

“Cease behaving in an anti-female capacity. You will become the victim of it shortly…and when you end up in the psych ward or rehab.. which is inevitable if you keep upon the path you are currently treading.. you will appreciate people like myself standing up for you. Which I will be happy to do.. if you earn my respect today by apologizing publicly.”

Cyrus has not yet responded to O’Connor’s most recent letter, though she may do so publicly during her hosting duties at SNL.

Furthermore, O’Connor also penned an open letter to Amanda Bynes, praising her for seeking help and apologizing for, as she puts it, Cyrus’ decision “to abuse you I order to hurt me.”

Miley Cyrus will act as host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live, airing Saturday at 11:30 p.m. on NBC.

– Olivia Truffaut-Wong

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