Miley Cyrus is as popular as can be at the moment, coming off a massive South American tour (complete with a lightning-struck flight) that followed a selection of performances at marquee music festivals, all in promotion of her most recent album, Plastic Hearts. While her mom Tish Cyrus was present for some of the fun in South America, things apparently haven’t been going so swimmingly with the latter’s longtime marriage to Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley’s father and former Hannah Montana co-star. (And partial mullet inspiration.) It’s reported that Tish went forward in filing for divorce during the first week of April 2022, which shockingly marks the third time it’s happened during their 29-year marriage.
With this most recent filing in Tennessee, Tish Cyrus lists “irreconcilable differences” as the impetus for the break-up, according to TMZ. What’s more, she claims this isn’t exactly a new situation, saying she and Billy Ray Cyrus haven’t lived together for more than 2 years. That assertion more or less matches up with the fact that one of the last times the couple was seen out in public together was in early 2020, ahead of widespread COVID-related shutdowns.
Tish Cyrus’s divorce filing requests for the judge to rule that the couple’s material assets be distributed equally, and apparently isn’t looking to upend her to-be-ex’s financial situation. That element should be the biggest source of contention regarding the outcome, since there’s no need for the courts to rule on child support agreements or custody arrangements. The two share five children, having three of them together — Miley (29), Braison (28), and Noah (22) — with two others from Tish’s prior relationship — Brandi (35) and Trace (33) — whom Billy Ray Cyrus adopted after he and Tish were wed. (The country singer also has a son Christopher, with former co-songwriter Cindy Smith.) Given that everyone is an adult now, there’s no need to bring them into the divorce process.
Fans were suspicious regarding the couple’s current situation, given that Billy Ray Cyrus was absent from the family’s most recent Christmas get-together pics. That, on top of their somewhat checkered past when it comes to potentially getting divorced.
As previously noted, this marks the third time that Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus have put in official paperwork for divorce proceedings. Having first gotten married back in 1993, which itself was somewhat controversial given it happened in secret and was against the wishes of his record company, the couple went nearly two decades before their problems elevated to the point of seemingly no return. The country star initially filed for divorce back in October 2010, also citing “irreconcilable differences” at the time. However, he went public in March 2011, saying on The View that he officially withdrew his divorce petition, and he wanted to work harder to keep his family together.
Two years later, in June 2013, Tish Cyrus took the initiative to file for divorce, with the same claims being made at that time as well. In this case, it was later reported that she and Billy Ray Cyrus attended couples therapy for the first time, which temporarily turned things around, and that filing was also dropped. However, this one wasn’t formally withdrawn at the time, and was only officially dismissed by the court system in 2017.
At this point, it’s obviously hard to know where Billy Ray and Tish Cyrus’ relationship will go next, although their extended time apart in recent years is indicative of the marriage no longer working for either of them. Neither has officially spoken out about the divorce news, with Tish’s most recent social media post being a video from Miley’s South American tour.
Miley Cyrus herself knows a thing or two about divorce, having split from her fformer husband Liam Hemsworth after they'd met and fallen in love while co-starring in a film. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse, and they officially called it quits in 2020. However it all turns out, here's hoping everyone is happier in the aftermath.
