VMAs Producers Made Sexist Comments About Miley Cyrus

“No one would ever say that about Kanye West.”

In her appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Miley Cyrus spoke about her experience with some sexist producers with whom she worked on her performance of “Midnight Sky”.

“I was just asking some questions, not even on some diva shit,” Cyrus told Rogan of the video shoot. “I wanted the lights to be turned off and then the lighting of the room to just be lighting me. So no key light, no beauty light. The beauty light is always used on women, and I said turn the fucking lights off. You would never tell Travis Scott or Adam Levine that he couldn’t turn the beauty light off.”

The producers agreed, saying they’d “‘just do the same thing that we would do with the guys,’ because that’s what I want,” Cyrus continued. But during filming, her bracelets “kept getting caught in all this shit.”

“They said, ‘You want to be treated like a guy and lit like a guy? We wouldn’t be dealing with this if a guy was doing it,’” Cyrus told Rogan.

Miley wouldn’t take that comment lying down, obviously. In response, Cyrus told: “Well a guy wouldn’t be doing this because a guy doesn’t sell your show with sex the way that I’m going to. And I’m aware of that. It’s a ridiculous conversation and also embarrassing.” Cue the slow clap.

Cyrus pointed out that producers would never say to man what they said to her. If a male artist were to be firm in his creative decisions, he would never be called a “diva” or a “bitch,” as a female artist probably would.

“It’s like, come on, why am I not getting that I’m a creative mastermind but I’m becoming a bitch?” Cyrus said. “No one would ever say that about Kanye West choosing what lighting he wants on a performance.”

“The balance that I’ve found is firm and kind,” she said. “I don’t lose my kindness but also don’t become a mat. I am firm about what I want.”