Are Miley Cyrus' Comments About Nicki Minaj's VMA Tweets Justified?

Outspoken vegan nudist Miley Cyrus is planning quite the opening to the 2015 MTV VMAs. The awards show host recently spoke to The New York Times about what's in store this weekend, that 2013 performance, and Robin Thicke. Miley also spoke on Nicki Minaj's tweets following the nominations announcements, and it's Miley's comments on this subject that are getting the most attention.

Back in July, Nicki took to Twitter after the VMA nominations were announced to vent about the social implications of MTV not nominating "Anaconda" for Video of the Year.

Miley was asked in her NY Times interview for her thoughts on Nicki's tweets. She responded with:

"People forget that the choices that they make and how they treat people in life affect you in a really big way. If you do things with an open heart and you come at things with love, you would be heard and I would respect your statement. But I don't respect your statement because of the anger that came with it."

Okay. Miley doesn't respect Nicki for saying what she said because it came from a place of anger. I can handle that. But Miley goes on.

"You made it about you. Not to sound like a bitch, but that's like, 'Eh, I didn't get my VMA.' ... If you want to make it about race, there's a way you could do that. But don't make it just about yourself. Say: 'This is the reason why I think it's important to be nominated. There's girls everywhere with this body type.'"

Should Miley dictate how Nicki should talk about her issues? If Nicki feels slighted because of her race, why shouldn't she voice that? She can draw on her personal experiences all she wants for the sake of making a larger point that touches more people than just her. That's what public icons ought to do.

And yet, Miley continues.

"What I read sounded very Nicki Minaj, which, if you know Nicki Minaj is not too kind. It’s not very polite. I think there’s a way you speak to people with openness and love. You don’t have to start this pop star against pop star war. It became Nicki Minaj and Taylor in a fight, so now the story isn’t even on what you wanted it to be about. ... I know you can make it seem like, Oh I just don’t understand because I’m a white pop star. I know the statistics. I know what’s going on in the world. But to be honest, I don’t think MTV did that on purpose."

Wait, Nicki didn't start a pop star war. If anything, the media did that. It's not Nicki's fault that Taylor Swift slid into her mentions and made it all about her. I also don't think that saying that you "know the statistics" is reason enough to tell a black female artist that she was wrong in bringing up race and drawing from her personal experiences in doing so.

I love Miley, and I will stan for her any old day, but I don't agree with what she said. We shouldn't be silencing each other — as women, as people of different races, as people in general. Racial tensions especially are at an all-time high. Instead of limiting the discussion by creating boundaries with which to talk about these things that only you are comfortable with, why not come at it from a place of love and understanding and try to actually hear Nicki out?

If Miley is allowed to be as free and open as she wants, why can't Nicki be the same?