--- description: She scrolls things, things don't scroll she title: Why The Miley Cyrus TelePrompter Scandal Isn't A Scandal At All image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58efd5ba11a9afe1/6986843535ba6f7847c00d21/140306-miley.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Miley Cyrus Teleprompter Controversy Not Actually Controversial  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 6, 2014 10:07 PM CUT  Miley Cyrus performs in Denver during a stop on her Bangerz Tour on Mar. 4, 2014 Miley Cyrus performs in Denver during a stop on her Bangerz Tour on Mar. 4, 2014Seth McConnell—Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 6, 2014 10:07 PM CUT Miley Cyrus fans found something less than banging during at least one stop on her “Bangerz” tour: a teleprompter. A photo from the “Wrecking Ball” singer’s show in Las Vegas shows Cyrus on stage with her own lyrics scrolling down a screen at her feet. The picture went to Radar, w[here they ran it with a “Busted” headline](http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2014/03/miley-cyrus-teleprompter-lyrics-concert-bangerz-tour/ "undefined"), and then set off a flurry of “[gotchas](http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/miley-cyrus-teleprompters-bangerz-tour-article-1.1711603 "undefined")” across the Internet today. But even if the photo-taker was shocked that Cyrus apparently needed a few reminders of the words she’s sung countless times, it’s not like she’s the first singer to ever use a teleprompter. (**MORE**: [Miley Cyrus and the History of the Wrecking Ball](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/09/10/miley-cyrus-and-the-history-of-the-wrecking-ball/ "undefined")) [Elton John](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sy%5FYebyGnc "undefined") has used them. [Steven Tyler](http://wzlx.cbslocal.com/2012/06/18/steven-tyler-uses-giant-teleprompter-on-aerosmith-tour-video/ "undefined") has used them. [Michael Jackson](http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/21/local/la-me-ln-michael-jackson-had-massive-sleep-deficiency-with-propofol-use-20130621 "undefined") has used them. [Bon Jovi ](http://www.phillymag.com/news/2011/03/03/it-happened-last-night-bon-jovi-and-the-teleprompter/ "undefined")has used them. [Courtney Love](http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/03/23/courtney-loves-concert-gear-guitar-ampteleprompter/ "undefined") has used them. Barbra Streisand has used them — [apparently](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/11/barbra-streisand-teleprompter-show-brooklyn%5Fn%5F1958695.html "undefined") ever since a bad lyrics-forgetting episode in the ’60s. [Bruce Springsteen](http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/bruce-springsteen-uses-teleprompter-in-performances-does-it-matter/2012/03/30/gIQAQTXGlS%5Fstory.html "undefined") has used them — and criticism of that choice led E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren to [explain to the Washington](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/nils-lofgren-defends-bruce-springsteens-use-of-teleprompter/2012/04/03/gIQAOWS6sS%5Fblog.html "undefined") _Post_ that fans should give artists a little credit when it comes to prompters. At the concert in question, Lofgren said, audience requests could be sent to a teleprompter crew, after which the lyrics and chords could be displayed for the band. “Many of those audibles were Bruce songs unrehearsed or played in years or decades,” he wrote in a 2012 letter to the editor. “With our collective musical memory, hand signals and teleprompter, it allows for those ambitious, ad lib moments and an inspired, musical recklessness I believe is unique to our shows.” Teleprompters aren’t exactly common at arena-sized concerts, says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of concert-industry magazine _Pollstar_, but he seconds Lofgren on the fact that when they are used it’s not necessarily because the artist forgets the words. There’s the Springsteen example of an artist playing something new, and Bongiovanni suggests that they can also help everyone on stage — not just the main singer — keep track of the set list and what to do next. Sure, there are some cases when an artist can’t remember the words to his classic songs. In Frank Sinatra’s waning years, Bongiovanni says, his health required it. And maybe Cyrus forgets things too. There’s no way to know — and besides, she has an excuse that works for anything. She’s just being…wait, what’s the next word of that song? **PHOTOS**: [Backstage at Bangerz with Miley Cyrus](http://time.com/67395/time-100-miley-cyrus-bangerz-tour-backstage/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/14456/miley-cyrus-teleprompter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/14456/miley-cyrus-teleprompter/"},"headline":"Miley Cyrus Teleprompter Controversy Not Actually Controversial","datePublished":"2014-03-06T22:07:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:37:40.558Z","description":"She scrolls things, things don't scroll she","url":"https://time.com/14456/miley-cyrus-teleprompter/","keywords":["Music","Miley Cyrus","Tour","Concert"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58efd5ba11a9afe1/6986843535ba6f7847c00d21/140306-miley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58efd5ba11a9afe1/6986843535ba6f7847c00d21/140306-miley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Miley Cyrus performs in Denver during a stop on her Bangerz Tour on Mar. 4, 2014","caption":"Miley Cyrus performs in Denver during a stop on her Bangerz Tour on Mar. 4, 2014","creditText":"Seth McConnell—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/14456/miley-cyrus-teleprompter/","name":"Miley Cyrus Teleprompter Controversy Not Actually Controversial"}}]}] ```