Miley Cyrus says body shaming after 2013 VMAs ‘scarred' her

Miley Cyrus is still healing years after being body-shamed.

On Sunday the 28-year-old singer shared a video of herself in a black bodysuit that showed off major skin. "Made ya look. Now buy tickets to @summerfest," she captioned the post, promoting sales of the concert she's slated to headline in Milwaukee.

She also posted a picture to her Instagram Stories in the same bodysuit, this time exposing her bare behind along with some commentary on body-shaming she experienced after her controversial performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.

"Ya’ll scarred me w that turkey butt sh**,” she wrote while also including animations that show a skeleton eating a turkey with "gobble gobble" in a speech bubble as well as a chicken shaking its butt.

In 2013, Cyrus caught some heat when she twerked onstage while performing with Robin Thicke in a flesh-colored two-piece. Less than five years out from the series finale of her highly popular Disney show Hannah Montana, she had begun her transition from her clean child star image to being a carefree adult in charge of her sexual identity.

Following the performance, publications like The Hollywood Reporter dubbed Cyrus "a Disney star gone bad" and called her performance a "bad acid trip." Social media users and celebrities also took aim at the star with memes and jokes.

In March 2020, Cyrus opened up about her experience to Demi Lovato on her Instagram Live talk show Bright Minded: Live With Miley.

“I stopped wearing skirts on stage, all this s*** because after the VMAs and I had on my cute little nude bodysuit, everyone started comparing me to a turkey and putting a turkey on my outfit,” she revealed. “I was just so skinny and so pasty and they kept putting me next to this turkey, and I was feeling so bad on myself that I did not wear a bikini for like two years.”

She added that the incident helped her realize that she needed to use her platform for a "bigger purpose," but admitted that meanwhile, the shamers made her feel like she was lying to her fans.

“I felt like having this persona of being the most confident girl on the planet was actually kind of fraud because I was so insecure on the inside that in my personal life I wasn’t even wearing bathing suits and shorts," she said.

Read more from Yahoo Life:

• Katy Perry is embracing her body hair and quit shaving her legs. She's not the only one.

• Demi Lovato says complimenting a person's weight loss can be 'harmful': 'I am more than the shell for my soul that is my body'

• Ashley Graham praises 'beautiful' fans celebrating their bodies with self-love TikTok challenge: 'I'm not crying, you're crying'

Want lifestyle and wellness news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Life’s newsletter.