Billy Ray Cyrus is ‘happy to be out of’ his marriage to estranged wife Firerose, and while he finds the divorce process ‘annoying,’ he’s focused on putting ‘all the drama in the past,’ Daily Mail reports.
The veteran country singer-songwriter, 62, thinks his marriage to Firerose, 36, ‘was all a scam’ and ‘feels lucky that he figured it all out,’ an insider told People Tuesday.
The Achy Breaky Heart vocalist Billy Ray Cyrus has a ‘good support system’ around him in Nashville, the source told the outlet, amid his acrimonious parting with the singer, 36, whose real name is Johanna Rose Hodges.
The Flatwoods, Kentucky native is ‘happy’ and ‘doing well’ as he’s ‘with close friends and he has great contact with’ his daughter Noah, 24.
The latest updates on Billy Ray Cyrus come days after the Australian singer made a spate of allegations against him in an interview with Page Six Sunday, claiming he went out of his way to control her.
Firerose told the outlet that ‘Billy had very strict rules’ he wanted her to live under, including prohibiting her from having friends and relatives visit them at their home, and monitoring her communications.
‘If I had to send a text, I had to read it out to him for permission,’ she told the outlet. ‘It was the same for email. I didn’t have a car. I was only allowed to go to the local chiropractor and allowed once a month to get my nails done.
‘It was systematic isolation and I couldn’t find the courage to leave.’
Firerose said that the tension she felt in the toxic marriage led her to faint and be hospitalized two days before their October 2023 nuptials.
Firerose said she ‘withdrew’ and ‘was afraid to talk’ after Cyrus would act emotionally abusive toward her, shunning her for days at times.
Cyrus cited irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct in his May 23 divorce filing, also requesting the court annul the marriage due to fraudulent circumstances.
Firerose said in a response to the court that Cyrus’ marital conduct was inappropriate, and that she felt her safety was compromised residing with him.
Billy Ray Cyrus on June 13 submit court docs asking for the court to prohibit Firerose from continuing to use his credit cards, saying she’d racked up around $100,000 in ‘unauthorized’ charges in the wake of their parting.
Firerose filed a response saying that the claims Cyrus made were ‘untrue’ and that he had ‘no right to cut her off’ from the cards, according to court docs reviewed by the outlet.
Cyrus in a June 24 court filing denied Firerose’s abuse claims and said that she had been abusive to him ‘physically’ and emotionally.
Cyrus’ manager Scott Adkins backed up his client’s claims in an affidavit, which a rep for Firerose told People was ‘questionable’ due to the fact Adkins is employed by Cyrus.
Firerose said in legal docs that Cyrus’ timing of filing for divorce was deliberately cruel, as she had been slated to have a preventative double mastectomy the following day.