Miley Cyrus Reveals the NSFW Move That Got Her Replaced by Selena Gomez in a Movie

The singer recently took a trip down memory lane to reflect on some of her past controversies.

Miley Cyrus attends the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, California in March 2025. / Lionel Hahn/Getty Images

Miley Cyrus took a trip down memory lane this week to revisit some of her past controversies, which the public watched her endure as a young adult.

The actress and singer recently stopped by Monica Lewinsky’s Reclaiming podcast to discuss some of the rare opportunities she missed out on earlier in her career as a result of her past behaviors.

During the chat, Cyrus recalled the time she lost out on the chance to star in the animated film Hotel Transylvania—all because she surprised her then-boyfriend Liam Hemsworth with an adult-themed cake as a funny birthday present (she was 18 years old at the time, and old enough to make mature jokes of that sort). Even so, the 2012 film’s team decided it was too inappropriate for their liking, rescinding the role and giving it to fellow Disney child star Selena Gomez.

“As a joke, I got my boyfriend a penis cake for his birthday, and I got fired,” Cyrus told Lewinsky. “I was the lead actress in Hotel Transylvania, and they fired me and replaced me because I made an inappropriate adult joke—but I was 18! So yes, I was fine to work in a kids’ movie, but I [wasn’t] a kid.”

The “Something Beautiful” singer continued, noting she believes she was judged too harshly for doing something young adults often do as a harmless joke with their friends.

“What felt ridiculous to me about getting fired [for] a penis cake was that they sell penis cakes for all bachelorettes. In Nashville, you can get penis cakes,” the singer-songwriter added. “But at that time, I wasn’t someone who was appropriate for kids, even though that was [part of] my personal life.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus)

Cyrus also opened up about the time a Walmart partnership was taken away from her due to a video shared of her smoking salvia, which went viral in 2010. Both experiences, she says, were part of the aftermath of being famous, and the highs and lows that come with growing up in the public eye. Nevertheless, she doesn’t believe the current version of herself would be as “interesting” had it not been for her past self.

“There are times in my career or my journey where it’s not my shame that I hold [...] It’s the shame that surrounded that time in my life,” Cyrus said at the start of the interview. “But the place that I am now is not nearly as interesting or as meaningful if you don’t actually go through some of the guts of my timeline. That carries a little bit more [...] guilt and some of the trauma.”

Miley Cyrus attends the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles, California, in February 2025. / Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

With these past experiences behind her, Cyrus looks to what she wants for her future—and surprisingly, her ideal next venture doesn’t have anything to do with music.

“My dream actually is for when I’m much older, I’d like to have my own glass shop in Italy. My very sweet partner—my boyfriend—got me glass-blowing lessons for my birthday. So I’m supposed to start that as [my] next thing,” Cyrus said. “The album [...] it’s going to be an adult soon. I’ve raised it. It’s been my baby, and now it’s in this child state, and then it’s going to go off and do what it’s going to do without me. Then I’m going to start taking my glass courses."

Next. Selena Gomez Corpcore. Selena Gomez Embraces Corpcore Craze in Sleek Black Suit for New Photos. dark