Sinead O’Connor death: What did Sinead say to Miley Cyrus? Emotional letter goes viral 10 years after feud

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Sinead O’Connor penned a lengthy letter to popstar Miley Cyrus after she compared her song Wrecking Ball to Nothing Compares 2 U

A letter penned to Miley Cyrus from Sinead O’Connor has gone viral days after the death of the 56-year-old Irish singer. The two infamously had a feud a decade ago after comments made by Cyrus.

The feud took place 10 years ago in 2013, when the Cyrus told Rolling Stone that the video for her hit track, Wrecking Ball, which included a lot of nudity, was inspired by Sinead’s song Sinead’s Nothing Compares 2 U.

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It appears Sinead was not impressed with the comparison or the video at the time, which saw Miley, who was 20 at the time, swinging naked on a wrecking ball - a far cry from her Hannah Montana days.

This prompted Sinead to pen a public letter to Miley. In it, she said: “Dear Miley, I wasn’t going to write this letter, but today i’ve been dodging phone calls from various newspapers who wished me to remark upon your having said in Rolling Stone your Wrecking Ball video was designed to be similar to the one for Nothing Compares … So this is what I need to say … And it is said in the spirit of motherliness and with love.

“I am extremely concerned for you that those around you have led you to believe, or encouraged you in your own belief, that it is in any way “cool” to be naked and licking sledgehammers in your videos.

“It is in fact the case that you will obscure your talent by allowing yourself to be pimped, whether it’s the music business or yourself doing the pimping

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“Nothing but harm will come in the long run, from allowing yourself to be exploited, and it is absolutely NOT in ANY way an empowerment of yourself or any other young women, for you to send across the message that you are to be valued (even by you) more for your sexual appeal than your obvious talent.

‘I am happy to hear I am somewhat of a role model for you and I hope that because of that you will pay close attention to what I am telling you.

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“The music business doesn’t give a **** about you, or any of us. They will prostitute you for all you are worth, and cleverly make you think its what YOU wanted … and when you end up in rehab as a result of being prostituted, ‘they’ will be sunning themselves on their yachts in Antigua, which they bought by selling your body and you will find yourself very alone.

“None of the men ogling you give a **** about you either, do not be fooled. Many’s the woman mistook lust for love. If they want you sexually that doesn’t mean they give a f**k about you. All the more true when you unwittingly give the impression you don’t give much of a **** about yourself.

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“And when you employ people who give the impression they don’t give much of a **** about you either. No one who cares about you could support your being pimped … and that includes you yourself.

Sinead O'Connor performs on stage at the State Theatre on March 18, 2008 in Sydney, Australia.Sinead O'Connor performs on stage at the State Theatre on March 18, 2008 in Sydney, Australia.
Sinead O'Connor performs on stage at the State Theatre on March 18, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. | Getty Images

“Yes, I’m suggesting you don’t care for yourself. That has to change. You ought be protected as a precious young lady by anyone in your employ and anyone around you, including you.

“This is a dangerous world. We don’t encourage our daughters to walk around naked in it because it makes them prey for animals and less than animals, a distressing majority of whom work in the music industry and its associated media.”

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