Billy Ray Cyrus finalizes divorce from singer Firerose 3 months after filing
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Billy Ray Cyrus and Firerose are now divorced.
The dissolution of their seven-month marriage was finalized Monday by a Williamson County judge in Tennessee three months after Cyrus filed for divorce.
Cyrus, 62, cited irreconcilable differences and “inappropriate marital conduct” when he filed for divorce from the 36-year-old, whose legal name is Johanna Rose Hodges.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Cyrus’ lawyers, Rose Palermo and Jason Talley of Cheatham Palermo & Garrett, said he and Hodges reached a settlement Friday, adding that Cyrus is “relieved to put this nightmare behind him.”
“I’m just very relieved… and giving thanks today to breathe a sigh of relief,” Cyrus said in a statement. “It’s unfortunate… it played out this way.”
“It was a matter of the heart. Love is blind … that’s for sure. B.R.C.,″ his statement concluded.
Cyrus’ lawyers claimed in their statement that Hodges legally changed her last name to Cyrus before mediation, which they say Cyrus feels “validates his assertion that his ex-wife’s sole impetus for marrying him was to obtain his last name.”
Hodges’ lawyers did not immediately return requests for comment.
The court documents show neither party will pay spousal support, and much of the division of assets is based on ownership before the two married.
At the time of the initial May filing, Cyrus was also seeking an annulment due to fraud on Hodges’ part, saying in the filing that he would not have married Hodges “had he known” about the alleged fraud. The filing gave no further details on the alleged inappropriate conduct or fraud but said each should be able to keep property that they own separately.
After getting married in October 2023, the musicians lived in Tennessee and released several songs together. According to the court documents, Cyrus will turn over ownership, master rights and copyright interests, as well as royalties, to Hodges for the music and intellectual property they created together before and during their marriage.
Cyrus has been married twice before, notably to Tish Cyrus, with whom he shares five children, including musician and actor Miley Cyrus. They divorced in 2022 after nearly three decades together. They had previously called off divorce proceedings in 2010 and 2013.
The 2022 divorce kicked off a highly publicized rift in the Cyrus family. When Miley won her first Grammy Award in February, she said, “I don’t think I’ve forgotten anyone” after a long list of thank-yous and shoutouts to her family that included her mother, who was in attendance, but excluded her father and onetime “Hannah Montana” co-star.
