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Miley Cyrus Defends Using Little People in Concert: “We’re Making Them Feel Sexual and Beautiful”

Miley Cyrus opens her "Bangerz Tour" at Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
In an interview with Ronan Farrow for MSNBC, Miley Cyrus defended using little people in her concerts, explaining, "We're making them feel sexual."

It's not degrading, it's cute and sexy! In a new interview with MSNBC's Ronan Farrow, Miley Cyrus defended her use of little people and black backup dancers on her Bangerz tour. The 21-year-old "We Can't Stop" singer denied recent criticism that her show is racist and exploitative.

Related: PHOTOS: Miley Cyrus raciest outfits

"It's really funny how serious people take it. And they're like, you're racist. And I'm like, 'Really?'" she told Farrow. "We're like a bunch of kids dancing around in, like, bears, but we don't do choreography," she says of performing with her backup dancer. "They're just like dancing, doing these cute moves and they're awesome dancers like just on their own. It's not me telling them how to be."

Related: PHOTOS: Miley Cyrus' wild life

As for the claims that she's exploiting little people? Cyrus said she doesn't worry about that. "No, because we're making them feel sexual and beautiful," she explained. Citing one of her female little person dancers, the "Wrecking Ball singer explained: "We're all about lifting her up and making her feel so sexy all the time, and having her dance — she's actually an awesome dancer."

Farrow, 26, also interviewed one of Cyrus' former backup dancers, Hollis Jane, who recently spoke out about feeling "degraded" while wearing a bear costume at the singer's 2013 VMAs performance. Jane said she's not blaming Cyrus, but explained: "Little people need to stop being seen, in my opinion, in the media as jokes."

Related: PHOTOS: Miley Cyrus' very short shorts

Rather than getting worked up about the criticism trailing her Bangerz tour, Cyrus revealed to Ronan that she's been spending her free time watching her favorite movie, 1990's Days of Thunder, starring Tom Cruise and ex-wife Nicole Kidman. "I watched it three nights in a row" she confessed of the racing flick, which introduced the couple to one another. "I want to be Nicole Kidman so bad, slash I'm kind of obsessed and kind of want to — I don't know if I want to be Nicole Kidman or if I want to be Tom Cruise, because his outfits are better."

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