Miley Cyrus has faced a backlash from fans after making a remark deemed “biphobic” about JoJo Siwa’s relationship with Chris Hughes.
The Something Beautiful singer, 32, was speaking on a panel at Dreamland Pride Festival in New York when she made her comment about the former Dance Mom’s star’s new romance.
“Enjoy coming out of the closet if this Pride is the time for you,” Cyrus told the crowd as she encouraged them to “have an amazing Pride”.
The ex Hannah Montana star then added: “Alright, I’m going back to get some more pretzels and find JoJo Siwa and bring her back out.”
‘I'm going back to the closet to find Jojo Siwa & bring her back out’ MILEY 😭 pic.twitter.com/QIP8BlJAOH
— Miley Cyrus Updates (@MileyCyrusBz) June 8, 2025
She was referencing how Siwa, 22, who identifies as queer, split with her partner Kath Ebbs, 27, after appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in April.
During her time on the ITV reality show, Siwa formed a close bond with 32-year-old former Love Island star Chris Hughes and the two have recently confirmed that they are in a relationship.
After clips of the incidents ciculated online, many took to social media to voice their shock.
“It’s really strange how some bi women can be biphobic, lol,” remarked one person on X, who highlighted how Cyrus identifies as pansexual.
Pansexual is a term which Siwa has also used previously and is similar to bisexuality, meaning that you can be attracted to anyone regardless of their gender expression.
“Publicly shaming a young woman exploring her sexuality is abhorrent,” declared another. “Not just Miley, but all of yall posting ‘jokes’.”
As a third put in: “I don’t think it’s “funny” to make fun of someone’s sexual orientation or gender, but I guess it’s perfectly fine if it’s directed at someone for not being gay or queer-enough during Pride.”
Meanwhile, some tried to argue that Cyrus and Siwa are friends and that she was clearly “just joking”, but others said it still didn’t make what she said okay.
“JoJo is getting visceral hate from the community at the moment so Miley doing this, even if it’s a joke, is distasteful. especially considering they’re meant to be friends,” said one person.
