Miley Cyrus Slapped With a $150,000 Lawsuit for Posting a Photo of Herself

The lawsuit was reportedly filed by Chosen Figure, a photography company based in Manhattan. The lawsuit cited a picture of the 27-year-old that appeared on her Instagram account without prior clearance from the company.

In the contested image, Miley Cyrus was photographed leaving the Marc Jacobs show as a part of the New York Fashion Week. The "Wrecking Ball" artist was spotted in the February 12 event wearing a black and grey top, black pants, and red boots. Before the photo was taken down from Cyrus' IG account, it earned more than 2.6 million likes.

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"Defendants ran the photograph on their website to promote their brand," Richard Liebowitz, the lawyer for Chosen Figure, wrote in the suit. The defendants in the case refer to Cyrus' company. It added that Cyrus' team "did not license the photograph," nor did they "have [the] plaintiff's permission or consent to publish the photograph."

Miley's team has not yet released a statement on the issue.

After Miley's Sixth Month Staying Sober

Earlier this week, Cyrus said in an interview with Variety that she's been sober for the last six months. She said that staying sober has been very important for her. "I really wanted to polish up my craft," she said in the interview. She then opened up about undergoing a vocal surgery last November. For four weeks, Miley was not allowed to talk. She even joked about getting ripped, trying to yell at people by writing on a whiteboard.

Her previous surgery was due to the overuse of her vocal cords. "No one shy ever has to get this surgery," Cyrus recalls her doctor saying. Aside from touring and performing since she was twelve, she argued that staying up late and meet-and-greets are challenging parts of her career.

While she had been away from drinking, Cyrus admitted that she had been thinking about her mother, Tish. She then shared her family's history, with her mom being adopted, and her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, had to raise himself.

"By understanding the past, we understand the present and the future much more clearly. I think therapy is great," Cyrus added.

An Intellectual Property Faux Pas

Miley Cyrus is the latest celebrity to face a lawsuit over posting images of themselves taken by someone else. Just last December, Miley's ex-boyfriend Liam Hemsworth also faced a $150,000 lawsuit. Splash News and Picture Agency sued the "Hunger Games" star for copyright infringement.

Liam Hemsworth apparently posted a picture on his Instagram page back in July 2018. The copyrighted image featured Hemsworth in an outdoor scene for the production of his film "Isn't It Romantic?" He posted the photo on his own Instagram page and tagged the film's promotional page. According to court documents then obtained by E! News, "Hemsworth or someone acting on his behalf again posted the Photograph to Hemsworth's Instagram Story twice on June 20, 2019."