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 LOS ANGELES — This weekend, Miley Cyrus is throwing a rager. So I was just reading this Q&A with Miley in The New York Times about her hosting gig at Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards. She wrote a post on Instagram post and her “tone” was open to some interpretation, so the fact that you read it as “angry,” or assumed she was “angry,” is kind of telling. What was your relationship with Robin Thicke like after? Now, since you didn’t “follow” this story and kept cutting off the interviewer as he tried to explain it to you, let me just briefly clarify what you seemingly missed: Nicki Minaj’s frustration, excuse me, “anger” was about the way the music industry’s fucked up standards for beauty and sexuality reward white female artists and ignore Black female artists — yes, such as herself. Anger is just as valid an emotion as “love,” and it’s certainly more valid than the mealy-mouthed interpretation of love that “came from” your last time on molly. I remember knowing the night before that it was the first time I would get to perform in this new way. God forbid she make it about her at all though, right? She then goes on to discuss her opinions on gender, and relationships saying, ‘I’m very open about it – I’m pansexual. That’s what it always feels like — like everything’s flopping and dying out there. (Please note, the “you” I’m talking to is Miley, even though she’s totally not paying attention or following along right now because she’s busy doing crow pose or freeing the nipple or making a sculpture out of armpit hair and PopRocks or something.) Here’s the exchange: 
 
 What did you make of the Nicki Minaj controversy around the V.M.A.s — that she was upset “Anaconda” wasn’t nominated for Video of the Year? I saw that. If you’re gonna admit you didn’t really pay attention to something, it’s probably best to stop right there instead of spewing your opinions on that thing you didn’t really pay attention to. I know there was some beef. I don’t really know. There’s a way to talk to people ... 
 
 Do you know what she said? She was saying that everyone was white and blonde that got nominated, I heard? And then Taylor Swift butted in. She may have alluded to “Wrecking Ball” also, saying that when a naked white girl breaks a Vevo record she gets nominated. And, like, don’t reiterate that you “didn’t follow” the whole Nicki vs. Taylor Swift thing if you’re going to immediately follow that up with the insinuation that Nicki is jealous. ‘I was kind of embarrassed that I got paid money to shake my ass in a teddy bear costume,' she says, 'I should not be worth the amount I am while people live on the streets.’ 
 
 As a provocateur she's acutely aware of how to command attention to get her voice heard, ‘If you get your tits out, and they are all looking, then you can use that space to say something and get them to listen,’ she continues later. Not that this is jealousy, but jealousy does the opposite of what you want it to — that’s a yoga mantra. People forget that the choices that they make and how they treat people in life affect you in a really big way. If you do things with an open heart and you come at things with love, you would be heard and I would respect your statement. But I don’t respect your statement because of the anger that came with it. And it’s not anger like, “Guys, I’m frustrated about some things that are a bigger issue.” 
 
 You made it about you. “If you want to make it about race, there’s a way you could do that.” 
 
 *blink* 
 
 Are you, Miley Cyrus, a white woman who grew up with all the privileges in the world, REALLLLLLLLLLY going to tell a Black woman how to talk about race? But don’t make it just about yourself. Say: “This is the reason why I think it’s important to be nominated. There’s girls everywhere with this body type.” 
 
 I think she did say that —— 
 
 What I read sounded very Nicki Minaj, which, if you know Nicki Minaj is not too kind. To use your words, that would have been the kind, polite thing to do. I think there’s a way you speak to people with openness and love. And who better to be the face of such a daring new issue than Miley Cyrus - pop star, provocateur, LGBT activist (and the sure to be controversial host of this weekend's VMAs). It became Nicki Minaj and Taylor in a fight, so now the story isn’t even on what you wanted it to be about. Now you’ve just given E! Can you really complain about Nicki starting a “catfight” that ended weeks ago if you’re essentially picking a fight of your own? Taylor and Nicki Go at It.” 
 
 I know you can make it seem like, Oh I just don’t understand because I’m a white pop star. What statistics cannot possibly convey are the insidious ways structural racism and white privilege work and the impact they have on people of color. I know what’s going on in the world. What MTV did or did not do “on purpose” was not really the point. I think what she does with homeless trans youth is fucking awesome. I’m 22, I’m going on dates, but I change my style every two weeks, let alone who I’m with.’ 
 
 Read the fascinating interview in full in this month’s issue of ELLE Magazine.
– Miley Cyrus has a coming out of sorts in her new Elle UK cover interview: "I'm very open about it—I'm pansexual. But I'm not in a relationship. I'm 22, I'm going on dates, but I change my style every two weeks, let alone who I'm with." What is pansexual, you might ask? Urban Dictionary defines it as "like bisexuality, but even more fluid," noting that pansexual people "can love sexuality in many forms. ... A pansexual person can love not only the traditional male and female genders, but also transgendered, androgynous, and gender fluid people." Cyrus, who is hosting this weekend's VMAs, also gave a recent interview to the New York Times in which she addresses the 2013 VMAs—you know, the one where she twerked all over Robin Thicke. "I got so much of the heat for it, but that's just being a woman," she says. "[Thicke] acted like he didn't know that was going to happen. You were in rehearsals! You knew exactly what was going to happen. And he was actually the one that approved my outfit, so I thought that was very funny. He wanted me as naked as possible, because that's how his video [for 'Blurred Lines'] was." She notes that the whole thing shouldn't have been so controversial: "It wasn't shocking at all." Click to see what she had to say about Nicki Minaj.