Back in 2010, a video leaked of Miley Cyrus smoking from a bong and immediately went viral. Now, 14 years later, Miley's mom, Tish, spoke candidly about her reaction to the video.
On the Feb. 7 episode of Call Her Daddy, Tish and her oldest daughter Brandi go on to talk about their relationship with each other, what it was like when their entire family became famous, and the public response to that infamous video.
Tish, who's literally smoking weed throughout the entire podcast episode, explained that when her kids were growing up, she was very strict about drugs. She only began smoking weed during Miley's Bangerz era, after a traumatic tour bus fire made it difficult for her to fall asleep.
"Never smoked pot ever," she said. "Honestly, if I would catch my kids [smoking], I literally was like, 'It is the devil. This is a gateway drug.' And I'm freaked. I'm not exaggerating, I would lose my mind."
"I can't help but think, like, the infamous [video] — I feel like I remember where I was — when the fucking [video] of Miley with the bong comes out," said host Alex Cooper.
"I was literally so angry," replied Tish. "Oh, you have no clue." And both Brandi and Tish both confirmed their entire family was blindsided when the video leaked.
At the time, the video sparked a media frenzy, especially because Miley, who was 18 at the time, was still starring on her Disney Channel series Hannah Montana.
Tish immediately came to Miley's defense, saying, "So, first of all — Miley would say this — at that time, it really, truly, honestly was salvia. Which is completely legal and you can buy it at the grocery store. It wasn't even weed. It truly, absolutely was salvia, and she lost a huge deal because of it."
Miley, who's now sober, has since spoken about the experience as well. Back in 2020, on the 10-year anniversary of the whole debacle, she posted the video to her Instagram page, saying, "Happy 10 year anniversary to the groundbreaking video of a teenager smoking a bong & saying dumb shit to their friends. (Not sure the director of this fine film should be considered a 'friend' but...) Time really flew by. I remember this like it was yesterday..... J/K I don’t remember shit cause I was fucked the hell up. #YesItWasReallySalvia #IfYouFindWeedThatDoesThisToYouSHARE."
You can listen to Tish and Brandi's full Call Her Daddy episode here.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.