Twitter has one tenet that if you say something with enough confidence and chutzpah, someone will believe it to be true if you say it with enough chutzpah.
There has been a lot of speculation about Miley Cyrus’ new single “Flowers,” and as a result, the situation has gone out of control.
Many rumors have been circulating – most of them unsubstantiated – that it is difficult to know where they come from and how far they are from Cyrus’s own reality. According to her fans, the song is a response to Bruno Mars’s “When I Was Your Man,” which her ex Liam Hemsworth supposedly dedicated to her at their wedding; and also that she’s recreating a scene from Hemsworth’s favorite movie “The Joker,” which is supposedly Hemsworth’s favorite movie. Her fans have also claimed that the music video for Flowers was filmed in the house where Hemsworth allegedly cheated on her 14 times. I repeat, 14 times. A remarkably specific rumor and data point.
The tweets that were used to propagate these claims were extremely viral: 10,000 retweets, 50,000 likes, and 55,000 views in the first 24 hours. There is a steady echo stream of unverified reports that pop up when you search for “Miley Cyrus ‘Flowers'” on Twitter. You can start by scrolling through them and you will be convinced that most of them are true after one scroll.
I think it is safe to draw a conclusion that Cyrus’s single was inspired by her relationship with Hemsworth since enough Easter eggs are hidden in the song to support the theory.
Hemsworth’s birthday coincided with the release of the song, the chorus closely mirrors “When I Was Your Man,” and a lyric alluded to the fact that they lost their house in the Woolsey fire in 2019, which destroyed celebrity homes across Malibu.)
As they wrote in a message, “I would love to help you…unfortunately I am not sure how I would benefit from revealing my sources.”.
Several Miley Cyrus fan accounts – many of which have tens of thousands of followers each – claim that they were a part of private group chats over the years between Miley Cyrus megafans and “people pretty close to her.” It is claimed that they know things the general public does not — but they are also refusing to provide any further details about how they know these things.
There are times when we cannot always tell, and even if we do, nobody believes it because we do not know who told us, said the person behind @mileycyrusvibez in a direct message to Insider. The result might be that people will lose their jobs, and we may lose the chance to feel closer to her and feel as though we are a part of her team somehow. (Many fan accounts have sent us links to old interviews and stories that prove Hemsworth cheated, piecing together their timelines and filling in the gaps in their narratives.)
Cyrus’s camp has declined to comment on the rumors, and Hemsworth’s camp has not responded to a request for comment either.
As far as we know, it’s impossible to determine which of the lore fan’s beliefs are really true, based on their deductive reasoning, and which of them have actually heard directly from these supposedly credible sources, the things that they have allegedly been told.
But, if we can pause for a moment, does it really matter if we have unequivocal proof of this gossip? Yes, in terms of ethics. Spreading erroneous rumours as fact is both socially inappropriate and irresponsible. However, it has evolved into a clever marketing strategy to generate more hype for a music release. It introduces a new thrilling sensory element for listeners to mine lyrics and graphics for hints about a celebrity’s personal life. It serves neither Cyrus nor her record label to put an end to these allegations, assuming they are real. (Insider has inquired as to why Cyrus and her team have not done so.)
In fact, speculation about an artist’s personal life frequently stimulates music releases. Consider Taylor Swift as an example.
Swift hides hints for fans in her songs, and fans go crazy for them as soon as the song is out. It’s almost turned into a sport. Fans form communities by sharing their discoveries, and Swift accumulates views and listens over time. Swift will continue to sell records, garner headline attention, and cultivate a cult-like bond with her fans since she never dismisses or confirms any hypotheses, no matter how personal.
“It’s a two-way street, and you don’t get that with other artists,” a Swift superfan on Twitter told The Washington Post in October, when her “Midnights” album was released. “For someone of that status and celebrity to still stay connected, drop these notions, and be participatory in
Music should be interpreted and interpolated. After all, isn’t that what it’s all about?
The distinction between innocent rumour and gossip and malicious misrepresentation is hazy. On the one hand, it’s a tool for Cyrus to use to her advantage, but it’s also a potentially hazardous means for social media to remain uncontrolled and untethered. The “Flowers” stories have gotten so out of hand that they’ve become a meme.
“This part of Miley Cyrus’ Flowers video is a reference to how Liam Hemsworth would fly around Malibu in a helicopter flashing spotlights on girls to cheat on her with lol,” one user joked.
It can get confusing and heady for individuals who aren’t following these threads or who lack the media literacy to perceive these tweets as jokes rather than verified truths.
For the time being, we won’t be able to locate much clarity or wrestle it in this exciting internet fodder. Cyrus and Hemsworth are the only people who know what happened. And as long as they remain silent on the matter, more people will be intrigued enough to watch “Flowers” repeatedly in order to find their own solutions.