Miley Cyrus fears she will have to “publicly disclose” that her ex-husband Liam Hemsworth is the “inspiration” for her 2023 song “Flowers” after being sued for copyright infringement.
The 31-year-old pop star was sued, accusing her of copying Bruno Mars’ 2012 hit “When I Was Your Man,” which topped pop charts around the world.
However, insiders have exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com that the former “Hannah Montana” actress is not particularly concerned about the lawsuit itself, but would find it “disturbing” if she was forced to confirm that the song was about her ex – years after fans claimed the song was a response to his alleged infidelity.
“Miley isn’t too concerned about the lawsuit herself, but anyone who knows Miley knows that this song was written as a form of healing for Liam,” the source said.
Miley got engaged to Liam in May 2012, but they split in September 2013 before getting back together in 2016.
Miley Cyrus fears she will have to “publicly announce” that her ex-husband Liam Hemsworth is the “inspiration” for her song “Flowers,” insiders told DailyMail.com
The 31-year-old singer will find it “upsetting” if she is forced to confirm that the song was actually aimed at her ex (pictured together in 2019).
The couple married in December 2018 and divorced in January 2020.
Liam reportedly dedicated Bruno’s song to Miley in 2013 and is said to have referenced it often during their relationship.
It was later claimed that the “Witcher” actor also had the song played at the couple’s wedding.
The source continued: “She wrote lyrics that were a response to Bruno’s lyrics in Your Man, especially because to her that was Liam’s song. All she cared about was that he knew it was for him.”
“Miley originally wrote it as a slow love ballad, not the fast, happy song it became.”
The Grammy winner is said to be afraid of having to make “public” confessions about the song.
“She’s worried about having to reveal her inspiration for writing the song,” the source continued. “While she has no problem saying it was a response to Bruno, saying publicly and officially that it was specifically about Liam is very upsetting.”
The pop star, who has not yet commented on the lawsuit, is reportedly waiting to see what happens next.
The chorus of Flowers samples Bruno Mars’ 2012 hit “When I Was Your Man,” which Liam reportedly once dedicated to Miley.
Tempo Music, which claims to own part of Bruno’s copyright, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the singer (Miley appears in the Flowers video).
“Right now she’s just waiting to see how things play out and hoping the whole thing gets scrapped before any of this actually becomes a possibility,” the insider said.
The source also claimed that Miley didn’t focus on the similarities between the two songs when releasing her single because she was “so focused on making these jabs at Liam and his alleged affair that it overshadowed everything else.”
The original song is about regret after losing a partner. It includes the following line: “I should have bought you flowers and held your hand. I should have given you all my time when I had the chance. I should have taken you to every party because all you wanted to do was dance.”
Miley flips the script and sings to the tune of Mars’ hit: “I can make myself dance / And I can hold my own hand / Yeah, I can love myself better than you.”
“I can handle dancing” probably refers to an infamous moment on the red carpet when Liam visibly recoiled at Miley’s twerking.
Elsewhere, Miley references her and Liam’s burning Malibu house, singing: “We were good, we were gold / Some kind of dream that can’t be sold / We were right ’til it wasn’t / Built a house and watched it burn.”
Fans also pointed out that the music video was full of Easter eggs with references to her relationship with Liam, such as the fact that the video was shot in the house where the actor was allegedly unfaithful to her.
Miley’s fans had previously highlighted the song’s lyrical and compositional similarity to Bruno’s hit
Miley released the single and music video on January 13th – her ex-husband’s birthday.
Bruno is not named in the lawsuit. The suit against Miley is being filed by Tempo Music Investments, TMZ reported Monday.
In the new lawsuit, Tempo Music accuses Miley of “intentionally copying” “When I Was Your Man in Flowers” because the two songs are very similar.
The investment company claims that “Flowers” features a similar melody and harmony to the earlier song in both the verses and chorus.
It claims that the chord progressions in Miley’s song – which she co-wrote with Aldae (real name: Gregory Hein) and Michael Pollack – are similar to those in Bruno’s song. It also claims that some of the lyrics are similar to those in “When I Was Your Man,” which Bruno co-wrote with Philip Lawrence, Ari Levin and Andrew Wyatt.
Tempo claims in its lawsuit: “Given the combination and numerous similarities between the two recordings, it cannot be denied that Flowers would not exist without When I Was Your Man.”
Both songs were hits for their respective artists, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
“When I Was Your Man” was nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014, but Flowers was even more successful.
The song won the Record Of The Year award – an award that recognizes songwriters – and also the Best Pop Solo Performance award, for which Bruno was nominated.
Flowers was also nominated for Song of the Year at the Grammys, but did not win.
Since their divorce in 2020, Miley has been with her boyfriend Maxx Morando.
Liam has been in a long-term relationship with model and actress Gabriella Brooks
Tempo Music accuses Miley, her producers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Harper, and her record label of all having access to Bruno’s song. In fact, however, almost everyone has access to the song, which was a hit when it was released a decade ago and has been readily available on physical media and via streaming since then.
The investment firm is demanding damages from Miley, but it is unclear whether she has yet named a specific amount.
In an even tougher move, the law firm is demanding that she and her label be banned from distributing “Flowers,” which could mean the song being removed from digital and future physical versions of her 2023 album “Endless Summer Vacation.” In addition, the law firm is demanding that Miley be banned from ever performing the popular song again.
And it doesn’t appear that Bruno filed the lawsuit against Tempo Music after the company reportedly acquired part of the copyright to the song.
In May 2021, it was reported that the Uptown Funk hitmaker had sold part of his song catalog to Warner Music Group six months earlier.
Few details were disclosed about the scope of the scale at the time, but Bruno (whose real name is Peter Hernandez) is said to have retained majority ownership of his catalog.
In late 2019, Warner Music Group and Providence Equity Partners announced plans to invest $650 million in a new platform, Tempo Music Investments, according to Variety.
DailyMail.com has contacted Miley’s representative for comment.
