Dr. Drew Weighs In On Billy Ray Cyrus’ Comments: Is The Disney Dad Partly To Blame?

Dr. Drew Pinsky still thinks Miley Cyrus is in trouble and her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, can help by being stronger in his role as her father.

On Tuesday night’s “Joy Behar Show” on HLN, Joy brought up comments by Miley’s dad, who told GQ magazine that he blamed the “Hannah Montana” series for destroying his family.

When Joy asked if that was fair, Dr. Drew said Billy Ray needs to look at his own actions in the situation.

“It’s fair to make an association between having made the choice to put his child in that show and things unraveling. I think what he misses, is that it was his role — his multiple roles — that really serve to cause much of the problem, I’m afraid,” Dr. Drew said.

“This poor man is talking about how he’s suffering because of what’s happening to his child,” Dr. Drew continued during his appearance via satellite. “We shouldn’t be taking pot shots at Billy Ray Cyrus, but the reality is that… for a child growing up, it’s very hard for them to have multiple functions if somebody is trying to be a parent.

“You can’t be the parent, the friend and the co-star,” Dr. Drew continued. “That is very confusing; that creates boundary problems for a child and therein lies the core of one of the problems that Miley seems to be manifesting now.”

Dr. Drew, who has met Billy Ray before, said he is a kind man, but may not have realized being a co-star and friend and parent were sending mixed messages to Miley.

“He’s the sweetest, nicest man you ever want to meet, but I don’t think he really understood how he had adulterated his parenting function when he was doing all this,” Dr. Drew said. “And he is such a nice guy, he probably had difficulty stepping up and asserting himself when he really needed to and now there’s a problem.”

AH Nation Poll: Billy Ray Cyrus blames ‘Hannah Montana’ and Miley’s publicity & management team for his family’s problems. Who do you think deserves the blame? CLICK HERE to vote!

In the GQ article, Billy Ray took some responsibility for things with his family, saying “I should have been a better parent,” something Dr. Drew said he can do now.

“Is there something diagnosable going on right now with poor Miley, or is this just a phase she’s going through?… In either case, having a father who is serving the function of father only can only help her,” Dr. Drew said.

“If this were my family, I would get mental health services involved immediately,” Dr. Drew later added.

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