When Miley Cyrus twerked on Robin Thicke wearing a nude latex bikini during her 2013 VMAs performance, it was cemented as a pop culture moment. But for Cyrus, that moment also redefined the way she looked at her body.
She chatted with fellow former Disney Channel star Demi Lovato in the second Instagram Live episode of Cyrus' recently launched Bright Minded: Live with Miley Cyrus series. As the two swapped horror stories about dealing with body image issues under the spotlight, the show host recalled what she endured after her VMAs stunt.
"I basically went through two or three years where I wouldn’t wear shorts. I stopped wearing skirts on stage, all this s--t because after the VMAs and I had on my cute little nude bodysuit, everyone started comparing me to a turkey and putting a turkey in my outfit," Cyrus recalled. "I was just so skinny and so pasty and they kept putting me next to this turkey, and I was feeling so bad on myself that I did not wear a bikini for like two years."
She continued, "I was probably 21 and I was just kind of starting to understand myself as an independent person, which is really, really hurtful just to be so body-shamed like that."