Miley Cyrus defended after backlash over announcing name change

Miley Cyrus has been fiercely defended by fans following the unfair negative reaction to her recent professional name change.

For those who missed it, this week the ‘Wrecking Ball’ singer, 33, rebranded as just ‘Miley,’ dropping her surname on social media and on her website.

While her Instagram handle is simply now @miley, her website has also quietly been changed from mileycyrus.com, to a brand new domain, mileyofficial.com.

Fans now know that this was to coincide with her latest music announcement, as the star dropped the exciting news that her tenth studio album, BASS PERSUADES, would be released on 18 September.

She wrote on Instagram: “Music takes hold of us. We feel it, sing it, sometimes dance to it, let it out and carry on. It is powerful, vulnerable, sweet and strong.

“Heart full, heartache, every part of life in between. That’s what the title means to me.”

Miley gushed: “Thank you for being a part of making my wildest dreams come true. I sincerely hope you love this album.”

However, as we say, some fans have seemingly taken issue with the singer’s new era falling a week after her godmother, Dolly Parton, died.

The former Disney Channel star emotionally paid tribute to her ‘Aunt Dolly’ on Instagram at the time, writing that she would want her to ‘continue on and be strong’.

She wrote: “The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly is beyond what feels right to share. Our most sacred moments were private, and they’ll stay there behind the stage, beneath the glamour & between our hearts.

“What I KNOW is Dolly would want me to feel it, write a song about it, and then continue on and be strong. I have an angel by my side. I always have. One of our last conversations was about music and metamorphosis.”

Following her new announcement, one social media user wrote: “It hasn’t even been a week since Dolly’s passing… this is so weird of her.”

While another brutally penned: “Dolly just died, you'd think she'd stop self-promoting. Jesus.”

Thankfully though, fans have rushed to Miley’s defence, pointing out that it’s what Dolly would have wanted, and that the album announcement was more than likely planned before the country singer’s passing.

One X user wrote: “Dolly literally made Miley promise to not push back the release of new music if Dolly had passed. This is extremely weird for you to be making a post judging her, like you know anything about her grief or her relationship with Dolly.”

While a second agreed: “It was literally finished before she passed and Dolly would’ve wanted her to release it anyway. What’s weird is you making false narratives.”

A third wrote: “Y’all need to stop assuming that there is correct way of grieving PLS STFU.”

A fourth chimed in with: “Also for some you delusional people Dolly continued working after her husband Carl passed away. She did not go hide in a corner for weeks on end. She forged ahead.”

While a fifth and sixth agreed: “Y’all are so insufferable, what do you expect her to do? Not move forward in her career?” and “Dolly wouldn't want her to put her career/life on hold.”

Tyla has contacted a representative for Miley for comment.