After Miley Cyrus released the video for 'Wrecking Ball', Sinéad O'Connor wrote her an open letter.

Following the death of legendary musician Sinéad O'Connor, a viral moment from 2013 involving the singer and Miley Cyrus has resurfaced. 

The activist and performer, originally from Dublin, died on July 26 after being found unresponsive in her home. 

O'Connor was a pop icon in music but she was also undoubtedly a divisive public figure marred by her controversies over the years. 

One such example was her open letter to Miley Cyrus in 2013. 

Watch: Sinéad O'Connor on SNL. Post continues after video. 

The feud began after Cyrus told Rolling Stone that the music video for her song 'Wrecking Ball' had largely been inspired by 'Nothing Compares 2 U', a song written by Prince and most famously covered by Sinéad.

Both singles are breakup ballads and in Cyrus' famous music video, she is undressed and riding on a wrecking ball. In some clips, she is crying into the camera, much like O'Connor's own music video. 

In response to Miley's controversial music video, in an open letter O'Connor urged the singer to rein it in and warned her of the dangers of the music industry.

"I wasn’t going to write this letter, but today I’ve been dodging phone calls from various newspapers who wished me to remark upon your having said in Rolling Stone your 'Wrecking Ball' video was designed to be similar to the one for 'Nothing Compares'," she wrote in a letter originally published on her website. 

"So this is what I need to say … And it is said in the spirit of motherliness and with love.

"I am extremely concerned for you that those around you have led you to believe, or encouraged you in your own belief, that it is in any way 'cool' to be naked and licking sledgehammers in your videos."

Miley Cyrus appears in her infamous Wrecking Ball video in 2013. Image: YouTube. 

The singer continued on, urging Cyrus not to 'pimp' herself out to the music business. 

"It is in fact the case that you will obscure your talent by allowing yourself to be pimped, whether it's the music business or yourself doing the pimping," she said.

"Nothing but harm will come in the long run, from allowing yourself to be exploited, and it is absolutely NOT in ANY way an empowerment of yourself or any other young women, for you to send across the message that you are to be valued (even by you) more for your sexual appeal than your obvious talent."

The powerful letter continued, "The music business doesn’t give a s**t about you, or any of us. They will prostitute you for all you are worth, and cleverly make you think it’s what YOU wanted and when you end up in rehab as a result of being prostituted, ‘they’ will be sunning themselves on their yachts in Antigua, which they bought by selling your body and you will find yourself very alone."

"Whether we like it or not, us females in the industry are role models and as such we have to be extremely careful what messages we send to other women," O'Connor continued. 

"The message you keep sending is that its somehow cool to be prostituted … it’s so not cool Miley … its dangerous. Women are to be valued for so much more than their sexuality."

At the time the letter was published, Cyrus did not react well. 

She went to Twitter to compare O'Connor's mental state to actress Amanda Bynes, who was undergoing psychiatric treatment at the time. 

The singer shared a screenshot of Sinéad's tweets with the caption "Before Amanda Bynes… There was…"

Before Amanda Bynes.... There was.... pic.twitter.com/6JZPVnunPc

— Miley Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) October 3, 2013

Cyrus also shared a photo of the time Sinéad tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live in 1992. Miley had tweeted at the seminal singer "I don't have time to write you an open letter cause I'm hosting and performing on SNL this week," which seemed like an obvious dig at Sinéad who had been banned from the show since the incident. 

Read more: 30 years ago, Sinéad O’Connor was cancelled for a stunt on SNL. The world owes her an apology.

O’Connor penned several follow-up letters in response and even threatened legal action against Cyrus.

The beef was eventually put to rest later in 2013 when Cyrus said on The Today Show the argument "didn't really matter."

"I think she's an incredible artist, I think she's an awesome songwriter, and I was really inspired by her for my 'Wrecking Ball' video, which was what started the whole thing," she explained. 

"I don't know how someone can start a fight with somebody who said, 'Hey, I really respect you. And I really love what you did.' 'You know what? You suck! I don't like you!' That was kind of crazy. But as I said, I'm a big fan of hers, so it doesn't really matter. It's all good."

In recent years, the singer has opened up about the "guilt" associated with the controversial music video. 

"I carried some guilt and shame around for years because of how much controversy and upset I really caused," she told British Vogue in 2023.

“Now I’m an adult, I realise how harshly I was judged.”

Miley Cyrus for British Vogue, the June 2023 Issue. Image: British Vogue.

Becoming a pop star at 13 weighed on Cyrus, who admitted she was attempting to breakaway from the persona that had been created for her as a child. 

"I’m actually not an attention-seeking person, sitting here as a 30-year-old grown woman," she said.

"[I] was creating attention for myself because I was dividing myself from a character I had played. Anyone, when you’re 20 or 21, you have more to prove. 'I'm not my parents. I am who I am.'"

Feature Image: Getty/YouTube/Mamamia.