Following seven months of marriage, the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer filed for divorce from Firerose in June. Billy Ray Cyrus has broken his silence after a private discussion between him and his estranged wife Firerose became public.
On Wednesday, July 24, the 62-year-old country singer took to social media to respond to an audio recording obtained by PEOPLE in which he was heard berating and belittling singer-songwriter Firerose (previously known as Johanna Hodges), from whom he is at present divorcing shortly after seven months of marriage.
Billy Ray Cyrus Expressed Frustration
“Hell yeah, I was at my wits end. With each passing day, I became increasingly aware that something was amiss. And that was before I realized she was a phony,” the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer said in a statement posted to his Instagram Stories and distributed through his representative.
“I knew something was wrong. That was before I realized she was David Hodges’ ex-wife. “That was before I knew her parents’ surname,” he added. Cyrus stated that “everything I thought I knew about her, was a lie,” and that Firerose, 37, “was trying to take over my career, my life, and usurp the Cyrus name for her own gain.” He ended his post by informing the artist that he will face her in court.
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The Leaked Audio
A Firerose representative has no comment on the latest events. The leaked tape, which lasted around one minute and 30 seconds, features a man who appears to be Cyrus fussing with Firerose over getting delayed for an event, which a Firerose insider alleges was a Nicki Minaj concert Cyrus was invited to perform at in Tennessee.
“It’s 9:15, moron. “I needed to leave two hours ago,” the Hannah Montana star stated in a video obtained by PEOPLE. “No, you did not. “You can still leave and arrive on time,” Firerose said.
Details of the Audio
Cyrus could be heard telling Firerose to “shut the f— up” and calling her a “f—ing selfish bitch” during the chat, while she pleaded with him to “please stop screaming at me.” In addition to Cyrus’ response to the released recording, Rose Palermo and Jason Talley of Cheatham Palermo and Garrett, his divorce attorneys, sent a statement to PEOPLE.
The disclosure, according to the attorneys, was “an apparent last-ditch effort to squeeze money out of Mr. Cyrus.” “Mr. Cyrus previously admitted in a court filing that he had been very vocally frustrated and angry with Ms. Hodges during their 7-month marriage as he began to uncover more and more of Ms. Hodges’ true motives for marrying him,” the pair said.
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Done With the Marriage
“Ms. Hodges made the recording without informing Mr. Cyrus that she was recording him. Of course, she was on her best behavior because she knew a tape was being made,” they continued.
In June, a source told PEOPLE that the former couple’s breakup was due to Firerose not being who Cyrus believed she was, and that he was “more relieved every day that he’s done with his marriage.” “His instincts have been correct all along,” the person stated. “He feels she wedded him primarily because of monetary and other objectives. He’s certain she never married him for love.
Billy Ray Cyrus was Abusive
Weeks after Billy Ray Cyrus filed for divorce from Firerose, she responded with a personal divorce suit accusing the country star of “extreme verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse.”
Firerose, 36, filed a counter-complaint in Tennessee court on June 14 alleging Cyrus, 62, has drug addiction issues that make him “unpredictable and volatile” — and that he filed for divorce just one day before she was scheduled for a prophylactic double mastectomy.
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Usage of Drugs
“Wife was the victim of extreme verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse,” Firerose’s attorneys stated in the complaint seen by PEOPLE. “Wife was subjected to Husband’s persistent drug use accompanied with the consumption of marijuana which made Husband unpredictable and volatile towards Wife.”
In her statement, Firerose denied being guilty of inappropriate marital activity, instead claiming Cyrus was the one who had acted inappropriately, to the point where living together was “unsafe.” According to the complaint, Firerose was diagnosed as a BRCA1 gene mutation carrier in 2020. She was told in March that she needed to have a prophylactic double mastectomy and reconstruction.
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