Miley’s troubled year

last updated 8 January 2015

Miley Cyrus has had a strange year, capped by “the bong hit heard round the world,” said Kimberly Cutter in Marie Claire. Since around this time in 2010, the 18-year-old Disney star has made $48 million; learned that her parents were divorcing, possibly because her mother was having an affair with singer Bret Michaels; and, most embarrassingly, saw a two-minute-long video of herself smoking the hallucinogenic herb salvia go viral on YouTube.

Predictably, she’s repentant. “I’m not perfect,” Cyrus says with a sigh. “I made a mistake. I’m disappointed in myself.” Sure, she says, other kids her age are pulling bong hits and doing far worse. “But they’re not Miley Cyrus. For me it was a bad decision.”

Worth more than $50 million, Cyrus says she’s trying her best to be responsible, particularly with her money. “I’m very careful about the things I buy,” she says. “Because a year from now, I’m gonna look at that thing I spent 30 grand on and say, ‘What the heck was I thinking? I don’t want a diamond skull.’” Though she’s upset about the turn of events with her parents, she’s also optimistic. “I have a lot of hope for my family. I just want my mom and dad to be happy.”