Joshua Goldman
Joshua Goldman
min read · June 15, 2025 · Entertainment

Is This Miley Cyrus' Career Downfall? Fans Demand Answers After Mixed Reviews

When Miley Cyrus performed her hit Flowers at the 2024 Grammy Awards, she was on top of the world.

MILEY CYRUS ON THE BRINK: EXCLUSIVE INSIDER SOUNDS WARNING BELL

Miley Cyrus's star-studded career is on a downward spiral, and sources close to the singer are sounding the alarm. The 32-year-old pop icon has been riding high on her chart-topping single "Flowers" and Grammy win for Record of the Year, but insiders claim she may be headed for a catastrophic crash.

After trading in her wholesome Hannah Montana image for a more provocative persona with her 2013 album Bangerz, Cyrus seemed to have finally found her footing. However, the mixed reviews for her latest album "Something Beautiful" and lackluster performance of its lead single "End of the World," which debuted at a dismal 52 on the Billboard Hot 100, have raised eyebrows.

With the release of Cyrus's latest album Something Beautiful – which received mixed reviews - some worry that rather than being a step in her ascent, she's about to come crashing down. (Pictured: Cyrus at the world premiere of Something Beautiful).

"It's like she's stuck in quicksand – every step she takes, she sinks deeper into trouble," claims a source close to Cyrus, speaking exclusively with The Scholarly Note. "Her ego is getting in the way of her seeing that this might be the beginning of the end."

The insider compares Cyrus's current predicament to that of her longtime friend and fellow pop star Katy Perry, 40, who has faced a series of career setbacks over the past year. Perry's much-ridiculed Blue Origin trip in April only added fuel to the fire, as she tried to launch a comeback with her anthem "Women's World," which promptly tanked at number 63 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

But things took a turn for the worse when Perry released her album "143," dubbed an "all-time low" by critics and panned by Rolling Stone with a scathing 1.5-star review. To make matters worse, ticket sales for her Lifetimes tour this year were abysmal, with over two-thirds of seats reportedly still empty at some venues weeks before the show.

After her controversial rebrand from Hannah Montana child star into a highly sexualized pop icon with her 2013 album Bangerz (pictured), it seemed Cyrus, 32, had finally found her feet - and that her star would only continue to climb.

"Cyrus is trying to avoid the same fate as Perry," says the source, "but it's not looking good. She knows that you always have another chance, but she needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror and figure out what's going on."

The drama didn't stop there for Cyrus, who premiered the accompanying film for her album at the Tribeca Film Festival last week. However, her loyal fanbase turned on her, heckling her during the screening and demanding that she sing – claiming the event was marketed as a concert.

"It was chaos," says the source. "Cyrus was flabbergasted when her fans called her out to sing. She will be ready next time, though."

A source close to Cyrus fears that she may suffer the same fate as her long-time friend and fellow popstar Katy Perry , 40, who has faced a series of career setbacks over the past year. (Pictured: Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus in 2013).

This wasn't the first public display of fan discontent with Cyrus's recent work. Last month, she revealed that she suffers from Reinke's edema, a vocal cord disorder that causes swelling and polyp-like growths – but also gives her signature sound.

"I have this very large polyp on my vocal cord which is giving me a lot of the tone and the texture that has made me who I am," she told DJ and producer Zane Lowe on his Apple Music 1 show. "But it's extremely difficult to perform with because it's like running a marathon with ankle weights on."

Despite her health issues, Cyrus doesn't seem too concerned about her recent setbacks. In fact, she seems relieved that the mixed reviews of her album were expected. When playing the record for friends, they reportedly didn't believe it was "pop music" – but Cyrus clarified it was because they thought it was "just so good."

'I Iost everything during that time in my personal life because of the choices I was making professionally,' Cyrus said, referencing her overtly sexualized image in her post-2013 era, during which she appeared naked in the music video for Wrecking Ball (pictured).

However, sources claim that Cyrus's personal life has also taken a hit in recent years. She and her family went through a tumultuous decade, with half of them not speaking to each other at one point due to the fallout from her parents' 2022 divorce.

"It was a dark time for us," she revealed on her friend Monica Lewinsky's podcast this week. "But we cleaned all that up."

Cyrus also opened up about her love life, revealing that she lost everything in her personal relationships during her post-2013 era due to her overtly sexualized image.

'Half of us weren't speaking to each other at one point,' Cyrus said, referencing the fallout from the 2022 divorce of her parents, Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus. 'And we cleaned all that up.' (Pictured: Tish, Braison, Noah, Billy Ray, Brandi and Miley Cyrus in 2015).

"I was sharing a part of myself with the world," she said. "And men wanted to be saved for them only."

The singer's decade-long, on-and-off relationship with actor Liam Hemsworth ultimately ended in divorce in 2019. But Cyrus seems to have found love again with her new beau, musician Maxx Morando, 26, who has several writing and producing credits on her latest album.

"She is a song away from being back," claims the source. "She is a movie role removed from being back on track."

With plenty of time to right the ship, Cyrus's fans can't help but wonder if this is just a minor detour for the singer. As one insider sums it up: "Miley is rich, young and not worried about anything – she has plenty of time to turn things around."