Just like at last year’s show, Miley Cyrus was part of one of the most memorable moments at the 2014 VMAs. And this time around, it was for her decision to have Jeese Helt, a homeless 22-year-old whom she had met at the Los Angeles shelter My Friend’s Place, to accept the award for Video of the Year.
“My name is Jesse and I am accepting this award on behalf of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the United States who are starving, lost and scared for their lives right now,” Helt said, in a moment that seemed to touch everyone at the L.A. Forum and millions tuning in at home. “I know this because I am one of these people.”
But in the days since, Helt has come under scrutiny for his past. It’s one that includes an arrest in 2010 for an attempted break-in at a home in his native Oregon, as well as a warrant that was issued the next year for violating probation, according to the Daily Mail. The New York Daily News also reports that he has violated his probation on multiple occasions in the past.
Miley, though, on Tuesday (August 26), came out once again in support of her friend. She took to Twitter to both come to the defense of Helt — who flew home to Oregon on Monday to see his mother for the first time in three years, after the pop star bought his plane ticket — and to criticize the media’s treatment of him and his past.
Her tweets echo what she told MTV News on Sunday after Helt’s speech about why she brought him with her on the big night.
“I just knew he had something to say and I just wanted there to be a face to youth homelessness and I felt like he was someone that can be that face,” she said backstage after the speech. “That people don’t understand that everyone around doesn’t look the same and doesn’t have the same story. I just wanted him to be able to tell people that.”
Check out My Friend’s Place, Miley’s Facebook page, or other organizations like the National Alliance to End Homelessness or the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness for more information on youth homelessness.
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