Miley Cyrus On Being “Harshly Judged” While Growing Up

Miley Cyrus is getting real about the harsh judgment she faced while coming of age in the public eye.

The singer recently got candid about the scrutiny she faced as she made the transition from Disney Channel star into adulthood, explaining in a British Vogue interview published May 18, “I’m actually not an attention-seeking person, sitting here as a 30-year-old grown woman.”

As Miley sees it, the provocative antics and attention-grabbing moments that surrounded her early 20s—which included twerking onstage at the 2013 MTV Music Video Awards—were more than just random rebellion.

“I was creating attention for myself because I was dividing myself from a character I had played,” she reflected of moving on from Hannah Montana into a pop star in her own right. “Anyone, when you’re 20 or 21, you have more to prove. I’m not my parents.’ ‘I am who I am.'”