Miley Cyrus recently shared why she lost her role in the animated movie Hotel Transylvania. The singer said she was fired after giving her then-boyfriend Liam Hemsworth a cake shaped like a p****. The incident happened when she was 18.
Cyrus was set to voice Mavis, Dracula’s daughter, in the 2012 film. But after photos of her with the cake went public, Sony Pictures replaced her with Selena Gomez. The movie became a huge success, earning over $1 billion across four films.
The photo showed Cyrus pretending to lick the cake at Hemsworth’s birthday party. She said the image was stolen from her camera after her backpack was taken at a private event. She never posted it herself.
“I, as a joke, got my boyfriend a p*** cake for his birthday and I got fired. I was the lead actress in Hotel Transylvania, and they fired me and replaced me because I had made an inappropriate adult joke. But I was 18.”*
Cyrus called the decision “ridiculous” because such cakes are common at bachelorette parties. She said many women her age enjoy similar jokes. The star felt she was unfairly punished for normal adult behavior.
At the time, Cyrus was moving away from her Disney Channel image as Hannah Montana. She believes studios were nervous about her leading a kids’ movie while acting more grown-up in real life.
“What felt ridiculous to me was that they sell p cakes for all bachelorettes. In Nashville, Tennessee, you can get p* cakes. It’s not that big of a deal. I thought this is a very simple, not vulgar joke. This is silly.”*
Cyrus also lost a Walmart deal as a teen after a video of her with a bong leaked. She had to email the company’s CEO to apologize. The singer said these experiences made her feel unfairly judged.
“I had to email the Walmart CEO and apologize for being 16 and smoking weed, which most 16-year-olds do. But my email address at the time was ‘Miley loves weed’… and it actually wasn’t weed, it was Salvia.”
The Hotel Transylvania role went to Selena Gomez, who voiced Mavis in all four films. Gomez later said she enjoyed growing with the character over the years. Cyrus first revealed the firing in a 2019 tweet.
“I got kicked off Hotel Transylvania for buying Liam a p*** cake for his birthday and licking it.”*
A Sony source confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Cyrus was dropped due to the cake photo. The studio reportedly worried about her leading a family-friendly franchise while changing her public image.
Cyrus said she reacted strongly when she lost the job. She jumped into a pool and refused to come out until her team got her role back. The incident pushed her to start therapy that year.
“At the time, I remember I jumped in the pool and said, ‘I’m not gonna come up until you guys get me my job back.’ It was really upsetting me. My lawyer and manager were freaking out because they didn’t realize how much it was hurting me.”
The singer wonders if young stars today face the same strict rules. She thinks attitudes have changed since her Disney days. Still, she believes actors can face consequences if their personal lives don’t match a movie’s audience.
“I don’t know if we put our Disney kids on the pedestal the way that we used to. But I think movies can still have consequences for their lead actor or actress doing things that don’t align with the audience.”
Cyrus spoke about these experiences on Monica Lewinsky’s podcast Reclaiming. Lewinsky herself faced public scrutiny in the 1990s. The singer has often discussed the challenges of growing up in the spotlight.
Hotel Transylvania became a major franchise after its 2012 release. The films feature voice work from Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, and Kevin James. Gomez starred in all four movies between 2012 and 2022.
Cyrus and Hemsworth dated on and off for nearly ten years after meeting on The Last Song set. They married in 2018 but divorced less than a year later. The cake incident happened early in their relationship.
The singer now looks back on the firing with humor. She said such moments seemed serious at the time but feel funny years later. Still, she believes young stars deserve more freedom to grow up naturally.
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