Miley Cyrus Goes To War Against the Dominican Republic Government

Miley Cyrus and her team are engaged in a legal battle against the Dominican Republic government over their censors’ decision to ban her scheduled concert.

In August, the country’s Comisión Nacional de Espectáculos Públicos y Radiofonía (CNEPR) barred Cyrus from performing in Santo Domingo on September 13, which would have been the pop star’s first gig in the Dominican Republic.

Apparently, the sexually suggestive choreography and aggressive twerking was viewed as a threat to the Latin American nation.

“As well as performance with inappropriate dress, corruption of language, images and perverse phrases, phrases with double meaning, apology for crime, violence and acts that degrade civic culture, incitement to sex, lesbian sex and use of inappropriate objects in public, acts that offend personal safety and violate the rights of children and adolescents, there are many reasons put forward by the CNEPR through its president JM Hidalgo [for banning the concert],” the commission wrote. “The acts [are] at odds with morality and customs that are penalized by Dominican laws,” the letter also read.

On Tuesday, E! Online reported that a legal challenge had been filed by the tour promoter in an attempt to lift the ban. SD Concerts is promoting the show in the Dominican Republic, and Live Nation is promoting the Bangerz Tour generally.

“Miley wants to defend artistic expression for all artists,” a source told E! Online.

The Daily Beast obtained a copy of the legal filing, which is in Spanish. Read it below:

The filing argues that the commission’s decision is in violation of the Dominican Republic’s constitution. The constitution, for instance, guarantees (PDF) the “freedom of expression and artistic creation, as well as the access to culture in equal opportunities and will promote the cultural diversity, the cooperation and the exchange between nations.”

Though the Dominican government views Cyrus’ stage antics and pantomime as obscene entertainment that violates the rights of children, the Dominican Republic is still a country where human trafficking and exploitation of young girls in the sex trade is a huge problem.

This isn’t the first time Miley Cyrus’ has taken a stand for human rights. She has been a strong supporter of LGBT rights, worked with Madonna on Art for Freedom, and recorded a cover of Bob Dylan’s “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” for an Amnesty International album:

The concert promoters and the head of the CNEPR did not respond to The Daily Beast’s requests for comment.