Billy Ray Cyrus Slams Leaked Audio As Money-Grabbing Effort By Wife Firerose

Billy Ray Cyrus doubles down on the viral audio of his verbal abuse being a last-ditch effort from his estranged wife, Firerose.

The "Achy Breaky Heart" hitmaker, via his attorneys, recently slammed the country music singer for attempting to extort him with the leaked audio. He claimed she intentionally released the clip to smear his name.

This new statement follows Billy Ray Cyrus' acknowledgment of his actions in the audio footage. However, he believes his words weren't inappropriate, given Firerose's alleged fraud schemes.

Cyrus' attorneys, Rose Palermo and Jason Talley of Cheatham Palermo and Garrett, addressed the viral audio of their client vehemently berating his estranged wife. They claimed Firerose, born Johanna Rosie Hodges, orchestrated the scheme for money.

"On behalf of our client, Billy Ray Cyrus, we wish to respond to Ms. Hodges's recent release to the press in an apparent last-ditch effort to squeeze money out of Mr. Cyrus ahead of our court-ordered mediation scheduled for next week," the lawyers' claimed in their statement.

"As we previously stated and released back in June, we regret that Ms. Hodges has chosen to litigate this 7-month marriage in the press and has left Mr. Cyrus with no recourse but to set the record straight once again," the attorneys told ET, adding:

"Mr. Cyrus previously admitted in a court filing that he had been very vocally frustrated and angry with Ms. Hodges during their 7-month marriage as he began to uncover more and more of Ms. Hodges's true motives for marrying him."

According to Cyrus' lawyers, Firerose was on her "best behavior since she knew the recording was being made." However, the evidence she allegedly leaked held no merit because the country music star had previously acknowledged he was "vocally frustrated" on some occasions.

"If Mr. Cyrus was truly the person that Ms. Hodges desires the court of public opinion to believe with the release of her one-sided recording, then it is mindboggling to try and explain why Ms. Hodges begged to return to live with him," the attorneys argued.

Cyrus' reps claimed Firerose also begged him for "a chance to 'explain everything'" after he moved to end their 7-month marriage. They slammed her actions as a smear campaign, noting she threatened to ruin their client's career if he ever filed for divorce. 

"At this point, Ms. Hodges has played her last card, while Mr. Cyrus, on the other hand, has much more material to present to the Court to demonstrate the lies that she made public throughout these proceedings," the statement concluded.

The Blast recently reported that the divorce drama between Cyrus and Firerose intensified when someone leaked an audio to the Daily Mail.The clip seemingly supported the latter's narrative of her estranged husband's abusive ways.

In the audio, Cyrus sounded upset because he was late to a stage performance, which he blamed on Firerose. It was unclear what transpired between them before the recording started, but the country music star warned his then-lover, yelling:

"If you had just left it the f-ck alone, now I'm really f—king pissed, once again showing you will not listen. I don't know who the f-ck you think you are, but you will not listen…this ain't about nothing. This is about you being a selfish f-cking b-tch."

Firerose could be heard begging Cyrus to "please stop shouting," but her cries only infuriated him. He turned up the volume and continued barraging her with insults like "selfish f—king b-tch" and "f—king idiot."

"I don't think you're real smart. I've changed my mind on that sh-t. What I think you are is a selfish f—king b-tch. That's what you are. This would not be happening if you had just shut your f—king mouth," Cyrus continued, adding:

"Look what a f—king mess you've made. What a dumb a-s [you are] …'cos you have to know I will not tolerate that sh-t. You just f-cked up… f—k you. You know better than that."

Following the leaked audio, The Blast reported that Cyrus acknowledged his faults on his Instagram Stories. However, he didn't apologize but blamed his vehement reaction on Firerose's alleged fraudulent behavior.

"Hell yeah, I was at my wit's end. As every day went by, I started realizing something was wrong. And that's before I knew she was a fraud. I just knew something wasn't right," Cyrus argued in his statement.

He continued: "That was before I knew she was David Hodges's ex-wife. That's before I knew her parents' last name. I had no idea she was arrested for felony residential burglary."

Billy Ray Cyrus and Firerose are still battling their differences in court, so fans can expect more drama until they are legally divorced.