Normally, celebrity engagements are met with cheer and well wishes, happy to see that others have found love. However, for one recent engagement, all the news has done is raise a lot of questions.
Billy Ray Cyrus appears to have lowkey announced his engagement to girlfriend of six months Firerose, leading a number of fans to voice some concerns about the relationship.
RELATED STORIES
Billy Ray Cyrus is (maybe) engaged!
Normally, that would be exciting news, but a detail about his partner Firerose has people doing a lot more questioning than celebrating.
First, there’s no actual confirmation that they’re engaged, but a recent set of pictures with a flashy ring on Firerose’s finger has everyone assuming it must be the case.
That’s not what’s raising so much concern, though.
No, what actually has onlookers baffled is that no one knows exactly how old Firerose is.
Some sources are claiming that she’s a year younger than Cyrus’ famous daughter Miley, who’s 29. Keep in mind that Billy Ray Cyrus is currently 61.
Considering how they met, Firerose being 28 is possible.
In 2021, she said that she had met Cyrus “10 years ago on the set of Hanna Montana ” while she was reportedly still a teenager. If she were 19 at the time, the oldest possibility, she would be 30 now.
The youngest she could be is 24.
Search results yield no specific answer as she doesn’t have her exact age listed anywhere.
Regardless of where in that range she falls, fans are still off-put by the large age difference between her and Cyrus.
Especially considering how the two met when she was a teen.
This has led people to accuse Cyrus of grooming Firerose. He was well, well into adulthood when they met, and it’s very possible she was still underage at the time.
Even if she was 18 or 19, the age difference is still alarming.
Firerose seems to talk about him like one would a mentor.
When speaking about their relationship on Live with Kelly and Ryan , Firerose said, “Billy Ray has been a phenomenal supporter of my music ever since [we met]. He’s just really believed in me and continued to tell me to pursue my dreams no matter what, and not give up.”
“The music industry is not easy, but he’s been just a really, really incredible support.”
Their engagement also comes only six months after Cyrus’ divorce from his former wife of 30 years, Tish Cyrus. Billy Ray claims he and Firerose “grew close while working on music together. […] He and Tish were over before he started dating her.”
All in all, it’s a possible engagement that steeped in questionable actions.
And while the comments on both Cyrus’ and Firerose’s posts are congratulating the couple, there’s a large crowd who finds this concerning at best and abhorrent at worst.
Especially considering the recent conversation around age differences in Hollywood.
Many male stars have started facing criticisms about their partners all consistently being younger than them, with Leonardo DiCaprio recently catching heat for having never dated someone over 25, even as he pushes 50.
Unless Firerose says outright how old she is, we’ll likely never know, but there being so much secrecy around her age is… well, let’s call it suspicious.
h/t: Jezebel
