Billy Ray Cyrus blasts estranged wife Firerose, addresses leaked audio: 'I just knew something wasn’t right'

Firerose previously accused Cyrus, who filed for divorce in May, of "verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse."

Billy Ray Cyrus is breaking his silence after audio of a tense conversation with his estranged wife Firerose was publicly leaked.

On Wednesday, the country star used social media to address the audio clip, obtained by Entertainment Weekly, in which he is heard arguing with his wife about being late for a performance, prompting her to say, “please stop screaming at me." Cyrus addressed the exchange in a statement shared to his Instagram Story.

"Hell yeah I was at my wit's [sic] end. As every day went by, I started realizing something was wrong. And that’s before I knew she was a fraud,” Cyrus wrote. “I just knew something wasn’t right. That was before I knew she was David Hodges' ex-wife. That’s before I knew her parents' last name.”

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Cyrus went on to say that "everything I thought I knew about her, was a lie,” alleging that Firerose, previously known as Johanna Rose Hodges, "was trying to take over my career, my life and usurp the Cyrus name for her own gain.”

He concluded by addressing her directly, writing, “See you in court.”

Representatives for Firerose offered no comment.

In the leaked audio, which captures approximately 90 seconds of conversation, the Hannah Montanaalum is heard telling Firerose, “I needed to leave two hours ago,” to which she replied, “No you didn’t, you can still leave.”

As the argument escalated, Cyrus told Firerose to "shut the f--- up” and referenced her decision to have a double mastectomy after discovering that she was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene mutation, which increases the chances of developing breast cancer. "This ain’t about your BRCA, this ain’t about your surgery, this ain’t about nothing," he continued. "This is about you being a f---ing selfish bitch.”

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Attorneys for Cyrus, Rose Palermo and Jason Talley of Cheatham Palermo and Garrett, referred to the leak as “an apparent last-ditch effort to squeeze money out of Mr. Cyrus.”

In a statement to EW, they said, “Mr. Cyrus previously admitted in a court filing that he had been very vocally frustrated and angry with Ms. Hodges during their 7-month marriage as he began to uncover more and more of Ms. Hodges' true motives for marrying him… With regards to this recording, Ms. Hodges is the person who made the recording without telling Mr. Cyrus that she was recording him. Of course, she was intentionally on her best behavior since she knew the recording was being made.”

The "Achy Breaky Heart" singer previously filed for divorce from Firerose on May 22, citing irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct as the reasons for the split, while also seeking an outright annulment of the marriage on the grounds of fraud.

The following month, Firerose submitted her own divorce filing, which characterizes her as “the victim of extreme verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse,” according to documents obtained by PEOPLE. The complaint says that “Wife was subjected to Husband’s persistent drug use accompanied with the consumption of marijuana which made Husband unpredictable and volatile towards Wife.”

Cyrus and Firerose met on the set of Hannah Montana and began publicly dating in 2022 after the singer split from Tish Cyrus. They tied the knot in October 2023.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.