--- title: Shailene Woodley Defends Miley Cyrus in 'Vanity Fair' Interview description: Keep calm and twerk on, Miley—Shailene's got your back canonical: https://time.com/2933503/shailene-woodley-miley-cyrus/ author: Joan E. Greve article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-27T16:02:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:55:34.062Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Parents Need to Stop Freaking Out About Miley Cyrus Says Shailene Woodley og:description: Keep calm and twerk on, Miley—Shailene's got your back og:url: https://time.com/2933503/shailene-woodley-miley-cyrus/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ee7fd5db048ae2b/698699a9810bbbc511c92648/shailene-woodley-miley-cyrus.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Miley Cyrus Shailene Woodley og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Parents Need to Stop Freaking Out About Miley Cyrus Says Shailene Woodley twitter:description: Keep calm and twerk on, Miley—Shailene's got your back twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ee7fd5db048ae2b/698699a9810bbbc511c92648/shailene-woodley-miley-cyrus.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Shailene Woodley: Parents Should Stop Freaking Out About Miley Cyrus by [Joan E. Greve](https://time.com/author/joan-greve/) ## Joan E. Greve Jun 27, 2014 4:02 PM UTC  Left: Miley Cyrus; Right: Shailene Woodley Left: Miley Cyrus; Right: Shailene WoodleyGetty Images (2) by [Joan E. Greve](https://time.com/author/joan-greve/) ## Joan E. Greve Jun 27, 2014 4:02 PM UTC Shailene Woodley in the July issue of[_Vanity Fair_](http://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/shailene-woodley-stevie-nicks) came to the surprising defense of another young female celebrity: Miley Cyrus. “Miley isn’t rude or mean or cruel to anyone in her actions,” the 22-year-old _Fault in Our Stars_ told the magazine. “She just does herself. And regardless of whether you agree with what she’s doing or not, it’s none of your business what she does.” Cyrus has been criticized in the past for her less-than-wholesome performances, particularly at the [VMAs](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/08/26/4-reasons-youre-still-hearing-about-miley-cyrus-vmas-performance/) with Robin Thicke and the sexually themed theatrics of her [Bangerz tour](http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/10/miley-cyrus-says-her-bangerz-tour-is-education-for-kidz/), and their potential influence on her young fans. But, to Woodley at least, that criticism is ridiculous. “She’s not in the world doing mean things. Why are all these parents or all these people freaking out about Miley being herself?” Woodley said. The young actress also advised parents to redirect their attention to non-Miley-related issues. “If you don’t want your kids to watch it, you know, you can change that situation at home, but don’t make a big deal of what she’s doing,” Woodley said. “Make a big deal about the bullies at school who are beating kids up.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2933503/shailene-woodley-miley-cyrus/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2933503/shailene-woodley-miley-cyrus/"},"headline":"Shailene Woodley: Parents Should Stop Freaking Out About Miley Cyrus","datePublished":"2014-06-27T16:02:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:34.062Z","description":"Keep calm and twerk on, Miley — Shailene's got your back","url":"https://time.com/2933503/shailene-woodley-miley-cyrus/","keywords":["celebrities","Living","Miley Cyrus","Shailene Woodley","Vanity Fair"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ee7fd5db048ae2b/698699a9810bbbc511c92648/shailene-woodley-miley-cyrus.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joan E. 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