I was harshly judged as a child: Miley Cyrus on past controversies

In her new interview with British Vogue, Miley Cyrus opened up about the "guilt and shame" she harbored after her controversial behavior in her early 20s.

The singer-songwriter shot to fame as the titular character in Disney’s Hannah Montana. At the age of 20, in an attempt to change her image, she got naked in the video for Wrecking Ball and twerked on the stage at the 2013 MTV Music Video Awards.

Reflecting on the backlash she received for that performance, she told British Vogue, "I was creating attention for myself because I was dividing myself from a character I had played. Anyone, when you’re 20 or 21, you have more to prove. 'I’m not my parents.' 'I am who I am.'"

The 30-year-old added, "I carried some guilt and shame around myself for years because of how much controversy and upset I really caused.”

"Now that I’m an adult, I realize how harshly I was judged. I was harshly judged as a child by adults and now, as an adult, I realize that I would never harshly judge a child.”

The Flowers singer told Vogue that she no longer needs the approval of the world, "Do I want to live my life for anyone else’s pleasure or fulfillment other than my own?"

"And, you know what…" she ended mysteriously.