First Published: November 13, 2013 4:09 PM EST Credit: Access Hollywood
Caption Matt Lauer / Miley Cyrus
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Miley Cyrus might have put Matt Lauer through the ringer during her recent “Today” show appearance, but Matt is singing the young star’s praises.
The “Today” show co-host stopped by Access Hollywood Live on Wednesday, where he defended Miley.
“I’m a big fan of hers,” he told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover. “Everybody criticizes her and gives her a lot of grief, [but] I think she knows exactly what she’s doing. I think she’s smart. I’ll tell you another thing, she’s a great performer… she is a real talent… she gets up on that stage and she works it.”
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And when Miley drops an outlandish remark – like when she insinuated that sex is over when you hit 40 – Matt said Miley is in on the joke.
“When she says things like that, I know she’s not serious. I mean she came up to me afterward and laughed,” he told Billy and Kit.
Matt might call himself a Miley fan, but he was not a fan of her lighting a joint during the MTV EMAs.
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“That I don’t approve of. I think that’s just for effect and that’s going too far,” he said of her most recent headline-making appearance.
The 55-year-old cautioned the 20-year-old about her journey from a child star to an adult star.
“It’s a difficult transition,” he told Billy and Kit. “It’s a very perilous trip and I think she’s in the middle of that.”
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