At the annual Planned Parenthood spring luncheon today at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan, Marilyn Minter, the organization’s Woman of Valor honoree, unveiled a new Miley Cyrus portrait, with a short introduction from the subject herself.
In a video, Cyrus, lounging in bed, introduced Minter after announcing the pair’s “M&M” collaboration.
“Hello, everybody at the Planned Parenthood luncheon. I’m super sorry I couldn’t be there. Thanks for having me in my bed to present Marilyn Minter with the Woman of Valor award. It is much deserved, Marilyn, and a huge honor to present this to you, but first, I want to unveil our M&M collaboration and hopefully make some big bucks for Planned Parenthood.”
She held up a print, which depicted Cyrus in typical fashion, tongue sticking out behind a Minter-esque steamy glass to form a heart-shaped imprint. “Thank you guys for all that you do, and fuck yeah!” she concluded, to wild applause.
Minter then rose from behind a podium to speak. After discussing her own introduction to Planned Parenthood—“I moved to New York City in the 1970s, and got a safe, legal abortion at Planned Parenthood”—she addressed the collaboration, first with an aside praising Cyrus’s work ethic. “[Miley] flew out to New York on a commercial flight because she doesn’t want to make a carbon footprint flying private—she sometimes even gets caught in layovers,” Minter said. “She books her own flights, too. She came to my studio, and she drove herself and parked the car. I mean, this is a really talented young activist, and I’m so proud of her. She’s planning to do a lot more, too. This is only the beginning.”
The paintings of Cyrus, which were made in Minter’s New York studio, are also available in print form. Fifty editions will be offered at $5,000 each, with all proceeds going to Planned Parenthood. Marc Jacobs, who also was absent from the lunch, will be selling T-shirts with the images of Cyrus silkscreened on the front in his stores and online at marcjacobs.com. They will be priced at $50. “We did all of this in about a week’s time,” Minter said of the process of creating the T-shirts, holding one up for the audience. “Isn’t [Jacobs] fearless? He’s always been fearless. This could raise a fortune for Planned Parenthood.”
She continued:
“This is a really vital time, I think. I want Planned Parenthood to start coming out of the closet, and I want to take our cues and inspiration from the marriage-equality movement. I also love that these celebrities are coming out of the woodwork and standing up, and I love that corporations like Marc Jacobs are standing with Planned Parenthood. Who does that? Nobody! So step the fuck up, everybody. Between us, we can do anything!”