Emily Osment: An In-Depth Analysis Of All The Reasons Why Women Everywhere Should Be Embracing And Celebrating The Idea Of Short-Lived Marriages – And Everything That Miley Cyrus And Firerose Have To Do With It

Actress Emily Osment is now getting a divorce from her husband of 5 months, Jack Anthony. And yes, you read that correctly – 5 months. Court documents filed by Osment list the date of separation as December 7, 2024, which means they were only married for 2 months before separating. The former couple were together since 2021, and were engaged by 2023. In a statement to People magazine, Osment said, ‘I think with any big decision in your life, whether it’s relationships or work or whatever it may be, you have to firmly plant both feet in that decision. Ultimately, it didn’t work out.’

But the ‘Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage’ actress had a much different testament of her union to Anthony in 2023 when they’d just gotten engaged. She wrote on Instagram in her engagement announcement, ‘I did not know life could be this sweet. I am so proud of the life we have built together and the people we have become over the last few years. This love is so big and so uniquely ours and I know it can do anything. I am so honored to stand next to you every day. I love you, Jack.’ Obviously, it wasn’t sweet; Osment’s life with her ex-husband, I mean.

Miley Cyrus, Osment’s ‘Hannah Montana’ co-star, had a similar end to her love story with Liam Hemsworth, star of ‘The Hunger Games’ and most recently, Netflix’s ‘Lonely Planet’, co-starring Laura Dern. Cyrus and Hemsworth were together for 10 years before announcing they were separated in August 2019 after 7 months of marriage. They’ve both since moved on with other people. To say that they were actually together for 10 years would be a bit of a stretch. They were on-and-off for years, and the off period lasted a couple of years at times.

Miley’s father, Billy Ray Cyrus, who rose to fame in the 90’s with the hit song, ‘Achy Breaky Heart’, also divorced his second wife, Firerose, in 2024 after 7 months of marriage. He and Miley’s mother, Tish, finally divorced in 2022 after more than 20 years together and multiple divorce filings that never came through. And unlike Miley, or Billy Ray, or Emily Osment, Miley’s godmother, Dolly Parton, was married to her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, for almost 60 years until he passed away earlier this month at age 82.

But before I get into any more people on my list of celebrity divorces, I’d like to include Kate Hudson’s recent take on marriage that she shared with Drew Barrymore on her show. Hudson said, ‘just don’t have the same kind of like, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to get married, and I can’t wait. And I can’t wait for the party.’ It’s the opposite. I’m like, Okay, I have to plan it and then it’s going to cost so much money’, and it’s just a lot. I like the idea of being engaged forever. The contractual thing is tough for me. I like my freedom.’ Before we knew it, she reminded us all that she was raised by Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, who’ve been together since the early 80’s and never married.

The ‘Running Point’ actress has been engaged to Danny Fujikawa, who’s the step-brother of Sara and Erin Foster, for several years now, and they have a 6 year old daughter. Between 2010 and 2014, she was engaged to Muse lead vocalist, Matt Bellamy. They have a son together, and are still close. He still even maintains a close relationship with Hudson’s oldest son, Ryder Robinson, and was seen supporting him publicly on numerous occasions years after he separated from Hudson and married another woman and had more children. And speaking of Ryder, Hudson had him with her ex-husband, Chris Robinson. They were married between 2000 and 2007.

Finally, the time has come to begin talking about what we’re actually here for, which is the short-lived marriage between Billy Ray Cyrus and Firerose. I know you probably thought you were here for Emily Osment’s story, but there’s not to say about her (first) marriage…surprisingly. We’ll get to talk about her later, though I promise. So without further ado… Billy Ray Cyrus and Firerose’s marriage, which again, lasted only seven months, ended in a messy divorce in August 2024, marked by mutual allegations of abuse and fraud. Firerose, whose real name is Johanna Rosie Hodges, claimed she was terrified and baffled by the split. Their relationship timeline is…odd, and that’s a merely light way putting it.

They first met in 2010 on the set of ‘Hannah Montana’. Yes, the same show that starred both Miley Cyrus and Emily Osment. In 2020, they reconnected and began dating after they collaborated on music. The relationship was confirmed 2 years later. That same year, the two became engaged and married the following year, in 2023, in a ‘perfect, ethereal’ ceremony. By May 2024, Cyrus filed for divorce, citing ‘irreconcilable differences’ and ‘inappropriate marital conduct’. A month later, he filed for a temporary restraining order against Firerose, accusing her of unauthorized credit card spending. Their divorce was finalized in August 2024. Firerose received no money in the settlement, but Cyrus agreed to hand over song credits and royalties for tracks they worked on together. 

Since the divorce, Firerose accused Cyrus of ‘extreme verbal, emotional and psychological abuse’, and claimed that he was ‘unpredictable and volatile’ due to alleged substance abuse. Cyrus, in turn, accused Firerose of making unauthorized credit card charges and claimed he was verbally, emotionally, and physically abused by her. Since the announcement of the divorce and everything that followed, Billy Ray’s daughters, Miley and Noah, have also been caught in the fallout of the divorce. Miley reportedly has a strained relationship with her father. You’ll be able to find a blog entry about their estranged relationship from the previous year, as well as a blog entry on Miley’s divorce from Hemsworth, so I won’t go into detail. I’ll say here that rumours started swirling of the estrangement when the once close father-daughter duo unfollowed each other on Facebook. When Miley won her first Grammy for ‘Flowers’, she didn’t thank Billy Ray in her acceptance speech, and even made an emphasis that she didn’t forget to thank anyone before telling the audience (in a very Miley fashion) that she forgot her underwear.

This past January, Trace Cyrus, Billy Ray’s adoptive son, posted an open letter to his father on Instagram following his *very* awkward performance at President Trump’s inauguration. He wrote, ‘Since my earliest memories all I can remember is being obsessed with you and thinking you were the coolest person ever. I wanted to be just like you. The day you adopted me was the happiest day of my life. Sadly the man that I wanted so desperately to be just like I barely recognize now. It seems this world has beaten you down and it’s become obvious to everyone but you. We are all hanging on to memories of the man we once knew & hoping for the day he returns. You’re not healthy Dad & everyone is noticing it. As I write this with tears in my eyes I hope you realize this message only comes from a place of love and also fear that the world may lose you far too soon. I love you Dad. We haven’t talked in a while but l’m over a year and half clean from alcohol. Guess what? I feel amazing. I don’t know what you’re struggling with exactly but I think I have a pretty good idea & l’d love to help you if you would open up and receive the help. You know how to reach me. Till that day comes I will continue to pray for you.’

This is actually more important than you might think. You see, following their divorce being finalized, Firerose opened up to Us Weekly about her turmoil of a relationship that she’d endured at the hands of Billy Ray. She said, ‘There’s been a few times I wasn’t sure that I would survive. It was a very humbling experience that put everything into perspective.’ She then revealed she developed pulmonary embolisms in her lungs, which are blockages caused by blood clots. She said, ‘It’s a very serious thing that can happen and easily can be fatal.’ Days before, she opened up to Stellar magazine about the relationship, ‘When I think about what I just went through. I would have told my 22-year-old self to run in the opposite direction and never look back.’

Following his performance at President Trump’s inauguration, the singer-songwriter said to People, ‘What’s being seen in public now reflects much of what I experienced in private during our relationship. It’s very sad to see those same struggles continue for him, but I’m glad the truth is coming to light — for his potential good because healing is only possible when you confront the truth and accept there’s a problem. For me, I remain focused on my faith, my music, my healing and using my story to encourage others to find strength and hope.’

It’s easy to judge someone like Firerose. It’s easy to say that she was after Billy Ray’s money and public recognition when it comes to their former marriage and the entirety of their relationship. In court documents responding to Firerose’s claims, Billy Ray said, ‘While the Plaintiff would acknowledge that he was certainly vocal, frustrated and angry with the Defendant in May 2024, it is the plaintiff who, in fact, has been abused. Not only verbally and emotionally by the Defendant, but PHYSICALLY abused by Defendant.’ He also claimed Firerose threatened to end his career divorce her by telling the public he asked for a split because she needed a double mastectomy. He claimed that Firerose has known about being a carrier for the BRCA1 gene mutation, which means she has an increased likelihood of developing breast cancer, for four years, but he was not made aware of it until after their marriage.

Statistics show that around 22% of first marriages end within the first five years, and the risk of divorce is higher for marriages that start with a shorter dating period. This was indicated in a 2011-2015 study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Reasons behind an end to a couple’s first marriage were divorce, separation, or death. In this particular case, we’re discussing divorce. In any case, the first seven years of marriage are often considered a period of high vulnerability, with half of all divorces occurring within that timeframe. Several factors can influence the longevity of a marriage, including age at marriage, socioeconomic levels, and the quality of the relationship. In Canada, divorce rates have been on a decline, reaching its lowest point since 1973 in 2020, at 5.6 per 1,000 married people. People choosing to focus on their studies and careers in their younger years, and marry at a later age is a big factor in divorce decline. In 1980, the average age at marriage for those who divorced was 23.7 years, increasing to 30.7 years in 2020. Similarly, the average duration of marriages ending in divorce rose from 12.5 years in 1980 to 15.3 years in 2020. 

It’s hard to talk about age in a marriage when we speak of Billy Ray Cyrus and Firerose, so when speak of them, we’ll be defining them as an age gap relationship. As of the publishing of this blog entry, Billy Ray is 63, and Firerose is around 37, given that she was 22 in 2010, when she first met Billy Ray. That means that she was closer in age to Billy Ray’s children than him. His eldest daughter, Brandi Cyrus, an actress, DJ, and podcaster in her own right, is 37 years old. And that’s not to discard the age gap couples that do work, because there are a lot of them, even the celebrity work that do. These include Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, David Foster and Katherine McPhee, Heidi Klum and Tom Kaulitz, as well as Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. I’ve seen age gap relationships that did work in my own circle. We’re going to exclude Sam Taylor-Johnson and Aaron Taylor-Johnson from the list because they’re just…gross. Nevertheless, a lot of these age gap relationships just don’t work out in the long run. Reason for it include:

• Social Stigma and Judgment: Age-gap relationships can face scrutiny from family, friends, and the wider community, potentially leading to decreased commitment and increased risk of breakup. 
• Different Life Stages and Priorities: Partners in age-gap relationships may be at different stages of life, with varying priorities and expectations, which can lead to conflict or dissatisfaction. 
• Potential for Power Imbalances: In some cases, an age gap can create an imbalance of power, with the older partner potentially exerting more control or influence. 
• Financial Differences: Significant financial disparities between partners can strain a relationship, especially if one partner is financially dependent on the other. 
• Physical and Health Differences: As people age, their physical health and abilities can change, which can create challenges in a relationship. 

There are actually many problematic celebrity age gap relationships. These include Charlie Chaplin and every woman (girl) he dated and married, Leonardo DiCaprio and every woman he ever dated, R. Kelly and Aaliyah, Dane Cook and Kelsi Taylor, and of course, Doug Hutchison and Courtney Stodden. It was R. Kelly and Aaliyah and Doug Hutchison and Courtney Stodden that were considered to be of grooming, where R. Kelly groomed Aliyah when she was just 15, and Doug Hutchison groomed when she was just 16, and he was in his 50’s. Dane Cook groomed his now-wife, Kelsi Taylor, as well. Cook started dating Taylor on the very same day she turned 18. We also can’t forget men like Tyga and Joel Madden. Tyga started dating Kylie Jenner when she was 17. Joel Madden started dating Hilary Duff when she was 16. Both relationships became public after the two women turned 18, but it never changed the fact that the relationships began beforehand. And of course, there’s Wilmer Valderrama. He dated Mandy Moore, Lindsay Lohan and Demi Lovato before they were of age. Lovato wrote a song about her problematic relationship with Valderrama, which lasted 6 years before ending in 2016, called ‘29’, which was the age Valderrama was when they started dating in 2010. The song starts with Lovato singing:

‘Petal on the vine, too young to drink wine
Just five years a bleeder, student and a teacher
Far from innocent, what the fuck’s consent?
Numbers told you not to, but that didn’t stop you.

Finally twenty-nine
Funny, just like you were at the time
Thought it was a teenage dream, just a fantasy
But was it yours or was it mine?
Seventeen, twenty-nine.’

By its mere definition, grooming is ‘the action or behavior used to establish an emotional connection with a vulnerable person – generally a minor under the age of consent – and sometimes the victim’s family, to lower their inhibitions with the objective of sexual abuse.’ Most of the general public would say that Priyanka Chopra groomed Nick Jonas when they started dating in 2018 (publicly, at least), but that’s just crazy. They started dating when Jonas was already in his mid-20’s, and he and Chopra only have a 10 year age difference, unlike Sam Taylor-Johnson. She was 42 years old when she started dating the then 18 year old Aaron.

Billy Ray Cyrus has also been accused of grooming Firerose because of their almost 30 year age difference, but I just don’t believe that to be the case. I do, however, believe he abused her. I also believe he has absolutely no respect for the women in his life, which makes his estrangement from Miley make perfect sense. In leaked audio and text messages, he called ex-wife, Tish, a ‘skank’ and referenced her previous sexual relationships in a derogatory manner. He also referred to either Tish Cyrus or Miley as ‘the devil’s skank’. In text messages, he responded to Tish’s ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast interview with Alex Copper by writing, ‘She is a liar … and a cheat. Complete skank. Scum of the earth. A fraud. she was impregnated by two different men.’

Meredith Ralston, professor of women’s and political studies at Mount Saint Vincent University and author ofSlut-Shaming, Whorephobia, and the Unfinished Sexual Revolution, called comments such as the ones Billy Ray made towards the women in his life as the unveiling of the double-bind women are subjected to when it comes to sexual agency. She said, ‘The language is really meant to silence women and keep them in their place.’ She added that calling a woman a ‘skank’ or a ‘slut’ or discussing her sexual history underscores the stereotype that women should be pure. Leora Tanenbaum, author of I Am Not a Slut: Slut-Shaming in the Age of the Internet’, previously told USA TODAY, ‘Only men and boys have permission to exercise sexual agency. And when a girl or woman does the same, she’s judged, ridiculed and regarded as being in violation of feminine norms. Even in our very sexualized culture, there’s still a purity culture. It’s very problematic for women and for any hope of women reclaiming some kind of sexual equity when we’re punished for our sexuality.’ Shira Tarrant, a Cal State Long Beach professor who specializes in gender and sexual politics, has called slut-shaming a psychological weapon. She told USA TODAY, ‘It destroys people and puts the onus on victims to change. Many people will hear the word ‘slut’ and everything shuts down. They think, ‘What did she wear? Who did she sleep with? What did she do to deserve this’ as opposed to ‘Is she OK? How can we stop the bullying and harassment?’’

Miley, for her part, has been no stranger to being slut shamed in the past. Following her divorce from Liam Hemsworth, she released a 4-part statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, that read, ‘I know the public feels invested in my past relationship because they felt like they saw it [through] from the beginning. I think that’s why people have always felt so entitled over my life and how I live it because they’ve watched me grow up. But I am grown now and make choices as an adult knowing the truth/details/reality. Men (especially successful ones) are RARELY slut shamed. They move on from one beautiful young woman to the next MOST times without consequence. They are usually referenced as ‘legends’, ‘heart throbs’, ‘G’, ‘Ladies Man’ etc…..where women are called sluts/whores! I am just trying to THRIVE/survive in a ‘mans’ world….if we can’t beat em, join em! If our president can ‘grab em by the p—-…’ can’t I just have a kiss and acai bowl?!?!’ I refuse to recluse and ‘date’ from home cause A. That’s not fun. B. extremely uncomfortable / puts me in a vulnerable position. I would like to share an activity with someone I am dating and not be stuck at home and pretty much nothing to do but ‘Netflix and chill. I have a great life I wouldn’t trade for ‘privacy’ but PLEASE don’t make this awkward for me! I am trying to make light and like always MAKE FUN of myself / and the public’s perception of me! Get used to me dating – this is where I am at!’

I personally can’t imagine being in Miley’s shoes. To be judged by the entire world for your life’s choices, and then to know that your own father is one of those people who judges you the most and doesn’t defend you. And not only does he judge you, but your mother as well. At first, I truly believed that she was estranged from her father because she took sides in her parents’ divorce. Now, however, I realize that the reason behind the estrangement is much deeper than that. It’s about how her father views women. In fact, by understanding her father and his views and treatment of all the women of women, I’m starting to understand Miley’s relationship with Liam Hemsworth. In Hindsight, Billy Ray and Hemsworth are practically one and the same. They both want a traditional 1950’s-like housewife, who will not do anything to ‘embarrass’ them, or make them look bad in the public, or make them feel as less than. There are even clips out there where Hemsworth told Miley to ‘behave’ at the ‘Hunger Games’ premiere.

We all know that Miley isn’t one to ‘behave’. With that said, none of us can say that she didn’t give the relationship her all. When she divorced Hemsworth, she broke free of becoming the woman she never was in the first place. She broke free of the relationship she could’ve ended up having, much like the relationship her parents had, or the one Billy Ray had with Firerose. Getting to understand Billy Ray’s relationship with Firerose was getting to understand Billy Ray’s treatment of women, which led to getting to understand Miley’s relationship with Billy Ray, which led to understand Miley’s relationship with Hemsworth.

Miley is now in a relationship with Maxx Morando, who’s 6 years younger than her. Of their relationship, she opened up to Harper’s Bazar in November 2024, ‘He looks at life really differently than I do. Honestly, he’s raised our dog off Reddit. I’m like, ‘Are you sure we’re supposed to be doing this?’ And he’s like, ‘On Reddit it says blah, blah, blah.’ He’s very similar to me. We just don’t take life too seriously. I worked with my dad forever. That’s how me and my ex-husband met each other. I’ve always worked with the people that I love. And Maxx just inspires me so much.’

It’s great to know that Miley has found her person after enduring such turmoil in her previous relationship. It’s great that she finally found someone who’s accepting of her for exactly who she is and doesn’t try to change her. She deserves it. She deserves to be at peace with herself, with her womanhood, and sexuality. She deserves to not have to explain herself constantly, even in her personal life. And she deserves to be seen as worthy. Emily Osment also deserves all those things that Miley does. I can’t say whether or not Osment had endured the same kind of treatment and abuse from her ex-husband as Miley did because not much is known of her personal life. But nevertheless, she deserves the same. And so does Firerose.

Emily Osment has settled her divorce from Jack Anthony in a matter of days, which probably means that they were very amicable, and their marriage, in fact, simply just wasn’t meant to be and that’s all there is to it. The details of the divorce remain private, but that’s totally okay because we don’t need to know EVERYTHING. But then again, she did jumpstart her career again after appearing on ‘Young Sheldon’ and then getting her own spin-off series during the relationship, so I wouldn’t completely put it past him that maybe Anthony wanted her to step away from working and be a 1950’s-like housewife. That said, we shouldn’t judge either. You think that 5 months is a short marriage? Britney Spears was only married for 55 hours to Jason Alexander (No, not the actor). The shortest marriage in history lasted 3 minutes. Historically, short-lived marriages have become more visible and discussed due to societal shifts and increased divorce rates, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century. While some cultures have practiced temporary marriages, the rise of divorce in the English-speaking world is relatively recent. More so:

• Traditional Views: For centuries, marriage in the English-speaking world was viewed as a lifelong contract, with the phrase “until death do us part” reflecting this. 
• Social & Economic Factors: The Great Depression and World War II significantly impacted family structures, with economic hardship and wartime separations leading to challenges for some families. 
• Changing Roles of Women: As women entered the workforce in larger numbers, expectations within marriages changed, potentially leading to dissatisfaction and divorce. 
• Rise in Divorce Rates: The share of marriages ending in divorce increased significantly from the 1960s to the 1990s. 
• Increased Individualism: A growing emphasis on individual happiness and fulfillment may also contribute to the increased likelihood of divorce. 

People now don’t get married for the same reasons that they did before. They married for cultural reasons, family pressures, the functions of marriage, family formation, as well as legality. In this day and age, you don’t need any of this. Some people don’t get married at all and choose to cohabitate, which is GREAT. They’re still a family. They still love each other. They still have rights. Let’s embrace the idea of not getting married at all, and let’s embrace, if a woman does decide to get married, the idea of a short-lived marriage and see it for what it actually is – a woman refusing to settle for anything less than she deserves. That’s exactly what I see in the short-lived marriages of Emily Osment, Miley Cyrus and Firerose. Though Dolly Parton’s long-lasting marriage is something to aspire to have, it’s rare in this day and age, and we have to realize that not all of us are as lucky to find ‘our person’. And yet, women like Osment, Cyrus and Firerose were lucky to leave the person that realized wasn’t right for them.