According to Tish Cyrus, Hannah Montana wasn't the wrecking ball Billy Ray Cyrus made it out to be.
In fact, Miley Cyrus' mom shut down the "Achy Breaky Heart" singer's 2011 assertion that the Disney Channel series "destroyed" their family.
"Absolutely not," Tish—who officially divorced Billy in 2022—said on the Feb. 6 episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast. "I just think he was having a moment."
While eldest daughter Brandi Cyrus, who joined Tish for the interview, concurred. "The family's not destroyed, first of all," the 36-year-old noted. "We're doing great."
Tish—also mother to Trace Cyrus, 34, Braison Cyrus, 29, and Noah Cyrus, 24—then offered her own take on Billy Ray's mindset regarding Hannah Montana. "I'm trying to be politically correct," she began. "He had done 'Achy Breaky' and nothing else was working."
The 1992 song is Billy Ray's debut single and one of his most successful records, hitting No. 1 on charts around the world.
When Hannah Montana debuted on the Disney Channel in 2006, the country star had not had a top 10 single in eight years and had not had acting work since he ended a five-season run as the star of the Canadian-produced medical drama series Doc in 2004. While the show was in production, the Cyrus family lived in Toronto.
"I brought Miley out to audition for Hannah and she had gotten it and then one of the casting directors said a joke, like, 'Too bad we can't afford her real dad!'" the 56-year-old recalled. "And I said, 'Oh, maybe you can.'"
Tish continued, "He had done another show in Toronto and so we all had to go back and forth and it was really hard on the kids. Miley had already gotten Hannah and I was already stressed about like, what are we going to do? Like I couldn't, as a mom, have half my kids in Tennessee and be out here with Miley, like I just could not do that. And so I was like, 'I have to bring all the kids.'"
As Tish explained to host Alex Cooper, she encouraged Billy Ray, 62, to audition for the role. "They love you and they're really interested," she remembered telling her former partner. "Yes, it would be a pay cut but our family could be together."
E! News has reached out to Billy Ray's rep for comment on Tish's remarks and has not heard back.
Looking back, Tish cannot believe how she managed to juggle raising the kids and managing Miley's entertainment career. Ultimately, it was her current husband Dominic Purcell, who she married in 2023, who helped her put everything in perspective. "He made me realize," she said, "what I did is bada--."
"It was not easy, having kids that small out," she continued. "But I just made it work and I took the kids. But it was a sacrifice for everyone."
Check out a guide to Miley Cyrus' family below: