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Miley Cyrus’ Bankup Dancer Didn’t Appreciate ‘Degrading’ VMA Performance

Hollis Jane was one of the little people who served as Miley Cyrus’ backup dancers dressed as a bear during her VMA performance. Now she’s gone on her blog to describe her experience as humiliating and that she’s not a prop to be laughed at.

I was a bear in Miley Cyrus’ VMA performance and it was my first time doing anything like that…anything where I was being used because of my height, not because of my talent. And I will be the first one to tell you that standing on that stage, in that costume was one of the most degrading things I felt like I could ever do. I realize not everyone shares my opinion and I might just be young and naive, but I feel like the acceptance of this kind of treatment has got to stop.

Okay, I see her point, but why even agree to do it in the first place?

When they asked me to audition for Miley’s tour, I was incredibly hesitant. The money was great and I would have gotten a free trip to Las Vegas. My computer had recently broken and my car needed (and still needs) multiple repairs. I could have fixed a lot of that with the Miley money. So, I sent in my audition tape.

So you traded in your principles for some quick cash? And you still feel you have the moral high ground to criticize being used that way? Plus, you’ve been trying to be a professional actress for the past 3 years and thought this could be a way to break into the industry. Maybe you were both using each other. You as one of the few people who could fit into that bear costume and Miley as a tool for you to advance your career. A tool that you could use even after the fact. Like with this Reddit AMA.

I had never been in a performance where I was purely meant to be gawked or laughed at. I will never forget that performance because it is what forced me to draw my personal line in the sand. After our first dress rehearsal in the costumes with the crew, publicists, performers etc watching us, I walked out of the Barclay Center shaking and crying. Thankfully, my best friends, Kelly and Kerri, happened to be NYC to visit me. They were waiting for me and I walked up to them and broke down. I love being the center of attention, but that was something different. I was being stared and laughed at for all of the wrong reasons. I was being looked at as a prop…as something less than human.

That’s funny because I probably won’t be the first to say I didn’t even remember there were little people acting as dancing bears during her performance. Maybe I was too distracted by the tongue, crotch caressing and twerking. But that’s just me. I usually pay attention to the finer aspects of a performance.

But like Jane, I digress. You can’t both willingly perform and write this blog post and expect people to take you seriously.

As a final pull on that heartstring, Jane goes on to think about the children. Specifically her future children.

I wondered if I could do it again…if it my computer and car were worth it. If it was worth that one day, when my future (possibly little person) child YouTubed Miley Cyrus and found me dancing onstage in a costume like that and said something like “But Mom, you don’t let me do things like that” and I had to explain that Momma did it to pay the bills. I wondered if it was worth feeling less than human again.

Wait, what? I had to rewatch the performance but at no point in time did anyone take off the bear costume so there’s really no plausible way her future child could identify her in the video. Unless of course she pointed it out to her and shouted, “Look! That’s your mommy! Look what Miley did to me! Used me as a prop for people’s amusement! I’ve never been so humiliated in my life!” Which one were you again? “Uh. That one… I think.”

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Candiiey
Candiiey
10 years ago

Who the f**k cares…about any of this…this is news now?

Mochipants
Mochipants
10 years ago

Wow, Victor. Aren’t you classy. Just because someone desperately needed money doesn’t negate their feelings for doing something they thought was degrading. I’m willing to bet that if your sister or wife got raped the first thing you’d ask was “well what were you doing out so late”?

mary
mary
10 years ago
Reply to  Mochipants

Don’t be too hard on Victor. Our society frequently confuses being an asshole with being rational, and it’s a well-known fact a real man is a rational one. Victor is probably just some kid in his 20s trying to prove himself to the world, so just give him 10-20 more years. He’ll be the empathetic human being we wish everyone was by then. I hope.

mary
mary
10 years ago
Reply to  mary

Wait a second. I just noticed Victor doesn’t even include his real last name in this opinion piece. Now I’m convinced he’s just some kid trying to become some sort of journalist, and he’s taking any writing gigs he can get while building up his portfolio. Writing about celebrities is relatively embarrassing for a male though, and Victor is smart enough to make sure his full name will not lead anyone he actually wants to work for to this website. Well, damn. Then he of all people should understand Hollis Jane’s decision to take that VMAs gig.

The Blemish
10 years ago
Reply to  mary

lol

dede
dede
10 years ago

Mochipants, pretty tasteless to equate an embarrassing performance to the pain of rape. I agree with Victor on this and would still be devastated if someone I knew was raped….not even in the same realm. I’m not sure if you always use extreme examples or if you’re a troll…..I might just be feeding trolls now.