Did Miley Cyrus use SNL to clean up her personal brand?

Published October 7, 2013 at 8:15 am

She’s twerked on Robin Thicke. She’s tweeted up a storm of controversy. She’s engaged in a public feud with Sinead O’Connor. Hell, she’s even licked a sledgehammer. If you haven’t been living under a rock, you know exactly who we’re talking about: the former Disney Channel sweetheart turned edgy pop sensation Miley Cyrus.

This past week, in the heat of all the mixed publicity she’s been getting since her now infamous MTV Video Music Awards performance, Cyrus hosted “Saturday Night Live” on October 5. Of course she found a way to take off her clothes a few times during the hour-and​-a-half show — I mean, would we expect anything less at this point? — but the most memorably “stripped down” part of her hosting gig was actually one of her songs.

That’s right, according to VH1, Cyrus made her voice, rather than her body, the main focus of the evening with an acoustic version of “We Can’t Stop” — and the source notes that she “killed it on the vocals.” She also belted out an emotional rendition of “Wrecking Ball” while wearing the most clothing we’ve seen her in since “Hannah Montana.” (Okay, okay, she had on a see-through shirt, but still!)

Cyrus’s toned down appearance left people wondering if she has been taking some of the criticism she’s received to heart in an attempt to make her image less offensive. However, in a “Today” show interview that aired on Monday, October 7, America’s favorite twerker made it clear that she has no plans to change any time soon. When Matt Lauer asked the 20-year-old whether her sexually charged image is a phase from which she’ll eventually move on, the singer responded without a beat.

“Well, I heard when you turn 40 things start to turn a little less sexual, so probably around 40. Around that time I heard that’s when people don’t have sex anymore, so probably around then.”