I read the interview — it was interesting, but I’m not quite sure what to make of it. Hindsight is always 20/20, but to a certain degree, BRC was no stranger to fame and its potential dangers when opportunity knocked for Miley, so it seems odd that he wouldn’t have taken a much more protective role much earlier on in her career. Or perhaps he left it up to his wife/her mother.

I have an almost three year-old and am pregnant with number two, but I would hope if either of them ever showed interest in the showbiz industry that I’d be able to redirect them. Why not involve your kids in community theater until they’re 18 and able to make the leap themselves?

But then I also remember the post you did at your personal blog Katie, about kids like your neice who just seem to be born performers and realize that it’s easier said than done!

Totally, totally agree. His willingness to say, ‘here is where I went wrong’, is a tremendously powerful thing, and the best message to deliver to any parent who is considering sending their child down this path. To any parent, period.

You should link to the original GQ article.

Pepe – You are correct. I should have, and now I have. Thanks for pointing that out to me :-) – Katie

He’s already made his money, Miley, too…so now they can say whatever they want. Still, I guess I agree w the general tone of the article. Plus, he’s hot. Cheesy, but hot.

I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that he said he didn’t make a dime off of Miley’s career — which I find odd, but if true, kind of heartening.

I’m not a parent yet but will be in August and I feel that as a parent if you can admit that YOU messed up in some aspect it makes you a better parent. However it shouldn’t consume the parent, become their identity. You can think you did the best for your children but you never know. It takes a lot to admit mistakes and say you’re sorry. He’s a very big man for doing so. Applause to him.

Uh, no, this man will not be my parenting role model. Of course he’s violating his ADULT daughter’s privacy. Plus, to put it kindly, I think he needs help – he sounds pretty wacked-out.

@Chris– “My daughter went through the same stage when she was 18-19 and I didn’t blast it to the world, nor did I estrange myself from her like BIlly Ray has done to Miley. The time to be a disciplinary is when they are 13 or 14, not when they are grown adults like Miley is.”
Yes yes yes!
Besides all this…I think I have a problem with the whole concept of a “parenting role model” *we* after all, are the adults. Maybe “mentor” would be a better word…in which case it would have to be an older person, maybe now a grandparent, with whom I had a close relationship…I don’t get this whole (celebrity) “role model” thing. Do people not have actual relationships with regular folks in their lives anymore?

Billy Ray made loads of money off the show — he starred in it and had a producer credit for some episodes (yes, my kids have watched it). That was money made due to Miley, at least in part.

He may very well have given some money to charity, you’re right. But he also waited until the show was over and until his daughter was an adult before he actually said anything. He cashed out first, before saying anything negative about Disney, and in fact has defended Miley’s behavior in the past. Like I said, it’s a good thing to admit parenting faults. I don’t see Billy Ray as any kind of role model though, and I dont’ get the sense from the article that he is using his regrets to make any positive change in his daughter’s life, esp. considering he still blames others. People are free to look up to him of course.

Do not, have not and will not ever take advice from celebrities. And I have a particular animus for Hannah Montana because of the way some of my former students were unhealthily obsessed with her.

@Julie, I think Billy Ray has made a big mistake with that GQ interview slandering his own daughter, and violating her privacy as someone else said. But to be objective, you should put things in context. At the time Billy Ray was hired by Disney Channel, he had just finished a successful four-year run as the star of Doc, another cable show for which he made a lot more money. Disney Channel is notoriously low-paying. He made $15,000 per episode–the same as his daughter made–from Hannah Montana. This was at a time when Billy Ray was still a world-known country star, and a movie and TV actor. Miley, on the other hand, at that time, was an unknown child actor who had a bit part in Big Fish and a few bit parts in her father’s TV show. At that time, Billy was the star, not Miley, so for him to take a job at what he calls peanuts, $15K per episode, was a real step down, and he did it because his wife pleaded with him to do it, to keep the family in the same place, even though he wasn’t too happy about the demotion. Miley was trepidatious about Billy taking the part too because she was worried that people would think she only got the part because of her dad. At that time, Billy was a multimillionaire to the tune of more than $100 million, as he is today. The reality is that, when you look at the alternatives he would have had since that time in movies and TV, he probably lost a lot of money by taking that part. And since that time, people have constantly made the claim that he was riding on his daughter’s coattails, I can see why he would think of Hannah Montana as a mistake for his own career. Since he had been in several movies, TV shows and had his own four-year TV show just prior to that time, it’s unfair to say that he was washed up. Also, right before the start of Hannah Montana, he had his biggest selling album since the mid-90s. None of that excuses the horrible thing he has done to his daughter with the GQ interview, but it should be considered.

@Chris
It’s not slander or a violation of privacy to talk about things one’s adult child has done in a very public manner, anymore than it is for you all to be talking about BRC’s GQ interview. If he was making stuff up about what she did behind closed doors, you might have a point. But she did these things on video, in magazines, out in public. If she was ashamed or embarrassed about her behavior, maybe she should change it.

In early 2009, my dh and I were in Nashville to attend a memorial service. That evening we met up with friends (who were treating us) at very posh, upscale dining establishment, The dinner, service, & staff were wonderful. The trip to the ladies room was not. There was a bit of a line, But, as with most women, I chatted it up with the other ladies also in line. Until, I felt someone pushing me from behind, telling those in line, that she needed to be next.. What the &*%#??
I asked her to wait to her turn. She was inches from my face and said something to the tune of ME not knowing who SHE was. I told her I did know who she was. “You are someone who has to pee as bad as I do”, I told her.
She left in a huff and the ladies room broke out in chuckles.
It was Miley Cyrus. And rumor has it, she used the men’s room.

Not a big fan of Miley or her father.

Right on, Kokopuff.

I think the fact that he can admit he made mistakes in parenting Miley shows a lot of character. As parents we are always making decisions about what is “best” for our child. It is the hardest job ever, and we all make mistakes at times. I am sure he would trade it all in for his family to be back together. When all is said and done, family is what matters.

I’m not sure why people are calling him “loony” because he said Satan was attacking his family. We all have different religious beliefs, and we should be accepting of that. Many Christians believe that Satan works against them, as well as other religions around the world.

I’ll give him credit that he is admitting that he made mistakes now that it is very clear that he did and he is seeing some results of it. I think that the fact that he now has no say, no part, nothing in Miley’s life and that this fact has been smacked into his face has something to do with the admission too. She is now 18, and as you well know, Katie, that is when your opinions, input, controls no longer carry much if anything in legal weight regarding your child. Billy Ray has been advised of that fact very directly, I’m sure.

You’re right, he’s setting a good example for other parents, particularly those who are thinking about letting their children go into the entertainment industry but I don’t think he’s doing the best thing for Miley. Of course it’s great that he’s not condoning her actions but speaking so publicly about her problems isn’t going to help her – it’s just going to make her feel hurt and betrayed. The entire world is criticising her but he is one of the few people who has the power to provide practical help and support.

To use you as an example, you didn’t speak about Henry’s drug problems on your blog for a long time, presumably because you recognised that although you had the power to spread a valuable message, at that time, allowing him to get the help he needed in private was more important. (Please correct me if I’ve got your motivations wrong). Maybe this is a selfish, socially irresponsible attitude but when it’s your child on the line, I think your job as a parent is to help in whatever way you can and then you can think what message you’re sending to society later. Even if your child happens to be one of the most famous teenagers in the world.