10 Miley Cyrus Defenders, From Snooki to Paul McCartney

Nov. 21, 2013 -- intro: Miley Cyrus dominated headlines in the days after her racy performance at the 2013 MTV VMAs in August and now, months later, fans and critics alike can't stop talking about the young artist. While opponents have snubbed Cyrus for her naughty antics, Hollywood has yet to give up on the rising star. Celebrities from all walks of life have lent their support to the "Wrecking Ball" crooner as the Team Miley roster continues to grow.

Most recently, fellow Disney star Demi Lovato spoke out in her friend's defense. In an interview with Katie Couric, Lovato shared her thoughts on Cyrus' transformation from Disney princess to pop diva.

Miley Cyrus Smokes on Stage at MTV EMAs

"She knows what she's doing," Lovato told Couric. "People are talking about her. People are talking about her VMA's performances and now twerking, I think, is in the dictionary.

"A lot of artists take that route of shock value and that's totally fine," she added. "But I think that she has such an incredible voice that's overshadowed by some of the things that she's doing."

Still, Lovato admitted she respects Miley's decisions, although they differ from her own.

Liam Hemsworth 'Happy' for Ex Miley Cyrus

"She's a businesswoman after all and that's what she's doing and like I said, power to her," she said. "I think that the world kind of needs to get over the fact that she was Hannah Montana when she was 16.

"I guess my transition was a little easier because I went straight to rehab," she quipped. "I didn't twerk, I just went to rehab."

From Britney Spears to Paul McCartney, generations of music's biggest stars have publicly defended the singer's raunchy behavior. Click through to see some of the most famous members of Team Miley.

quicklist: 1title: Dolly Partontext: Country-music star Dolly Parton responded to Miley critics in a candid interview with the London England Standard, where she insisted her famous goddaughter was "just trying to find her own place and wings and learn to fly."

"It's not easy being young," she said. "It's hard to know what to do. You've almost got to sacrifice your damn soul just to get anything done."

"I know that she has thought this all through," she continued. "We'll let her go and do her own thing."media:20956634

quicklist: 2title: Shania Twaintext: While critics have disapproved of Cyrus' barely there wardrobe, singer Shania Twain defended the right of pop-stars everywhere to bare it all, if they so choose.

"I don't think [pop stars are] too sexy now," she told ET Canada, adding, "The boundaries are really up to the individual and then it's up to the viewer whether they like it or not."

Like Miley, the "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" vocalist isn't afraid to show a little skin.

"I'm very comfortable with myself," she said. "I'm not bearing my midriff for effect or for shock factor. ... I'm just doing it because I like my midriff."media: 20956666

quicklist: 3title: Chertext: Hit-maker Cher also spoke out in defense of Miley. With nearly five decades in the music business, the living legend knows a thing or two about transformations.

"You're talking to someone who's done that kind of stuff and I never did anything I didn't want to," Cher said in an interview with the Guardian. "I was pushing an envelope that I wanted to push. I felt that looking the way I wanted to look made me more empowered. … Women have always been sex objects, and that's nothing new. They always will be."As for Miley?

"She's trying to break the Disney stuff," she said. "When you make such an image, you have to hit it with a hammer ... or a sledgehammer!"media: 20956677

quicklist: 4title: Snookitext: Reality television personality Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi has had her fair share of bad press. The "Jersey Shore" star weighed in Miley's antics on her CelebBuzz video blog, Nooki with Snooki, saying ""Miley needs to go through this stage of just being crazy, making mistakes and just doing what she wants to do."

"She's trying to get everyone to talk about her, and now look, all her songs are number one," she added. "She knows what she's doing, even though everyone's talking bad about her, at least they're talking about her."media: 20956721

quicklist: 5title: Justin Timberlaketext: Among the first members of Team Miley was singer Justin Timberlake. Justin who also took the stage at the 2013 VMAs was quick to come to Miley's defense.

"She's young, take it easy on her," he said during a radio interview with Hot 97's Angie Martinez. "It's the VMAs. You know what I mean, like, it's not the Grammys. We're talking about Madonna in a wedding dress humping the stage, we're talking about Britney doing a striptease. This cycle is not uncommon. If something like that doesn't happen at the VMAs, I feel like it was boring."media: 20956749

quicklist: 6title: Britney Spearstext: Fellow pop princess Britney Spears also defended the "Bangerz" artist racy new image. In an interview with Good Morning America, Spears complimented Cyrus for her fearless VMA performance.

"I think anytime you do a performance that is that memorable, you're going to have criticism," she explained. "I think she's doing her thing. She's being herself, so I give props to her."

The pop praise didn't stop there. In a separate interview with London's 95-106 Capital FM, Spears continued to sing Miley's praises.

"I'm a huge fan of hers," she gushed. "I think she's brilliant right now."media: 20956781

quicklist: 7title: Celine Diontext: Music legend Celine Dion attempted to lend her support for Cyrus in an interview with Fuse TV, but her efforts were thwarted by a grammatical mistake that went viral. Celine struggled to make her point through her thick French-Canadian accent, making comments such as "Hannah Montana got tired to be Hannah Montana." Still, the singer's heart was in the right place and she was eventually able weigh in on Cyrus.

"Before we judge her for getting naked. … Hannah Montana gave herself for so many years and one day," she said, "'I am fed up with the life that I had to be. I'm going to show you my real skin.' There's nothing evil about that. It's expression. I just hope that she remains healthy."media: 20956846

quicklist: 8title: Katy Perrytext: While she originally slammed pop-stars "getting naked" in an interview with NPR, Katy Perry ultimately came to her senses and officially joined team Miley. During a chat with Entertainment Weekly, the "Roar" singer defended Cyrus' right to nudity.

"She's what, 19 or 20? She's just living her life," Perry said. "She's super young, and there's no directing book on how to do this. Each of us find our own way, and some of us make it out alive and some of us don't.

"I mean, Madonna was naked [too]," she continued. " The thing is, people come to me and ask me, out of default, what I think about all these girls, but at the end of it all I shouldn't be considered the behavior police, because I'm not always going to be on my best behavior!"media: 20956859

quicklist: 9title: Paul McCartneytext: Former Beatle Paul McCartney is perhaps the oldest member of Team Miley. The 71-year-old singer slammed critics for their response to Cyrus' VMA performance saying, "Come on, we've seen worse than that."

In an interview with Sky News, the singer admitted he allows his 10-year-old daughter to watch Miley twerk.

"I watched it as an experiment to check, but you look at it and you say, 'What's everyone shouting about?'" he said. "I think it was only mildly shocking. It wasn't explicit at all."media: 20956890