Miley Cyrus rejects criticism of Hollywood Bowl show

Miley Cyrus responded to online criticism of her October 16 Hollywood Bowl performance during her second show at the Los Angeles venue on October 18, saying she was fully present and rejecting claims that she had not put her heart into the first concert. The criticism circulated on social media after Cyrus’s October 16 appearance, which marked her return to a live audience after four years. Posts and videos alleged that she did not sing every word and appeared insufficiently invested. Those claims were not independently assessed in the accounts of her response. At the October 18 show, Cyrus said she had heard that someone was making commentary about the Friday performance to generate clickbait. She told the audience she would not entertain questions about where her heart was while performing, and said she was fully present. She also referred to the criticism during a performance of material from her album Bass Persuades, joking that she was apparently expected to sing every word. Cyrus acknowledged that returning to the stage was difficult and less natural than it had been before. She described the shows as an experience for her, rather than an experiment on the audience, and...