In her "Wrecking Ball" video, Miley Cyrus swings around naked on a large metal ball, prompting unsurprising indignation, adoration, scorn and a record-breaking 19.3 million views in the first 24 hours on Vevo. But some of the best responses were the homages to Miley from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich, including this man's naked ride:
He wasn't the only one to take a ride on the 1973 sculpture by Dale Eldred in the name of Miley.
Unfortunately, the parody videos -- and students' Miley aspirations -- have come to a halt. GVSU removed the 42-inch bifilar pendulum from the campus and placed it in storage.
"We are reassessing the safety and structural integrity of the current installation and site," Associate Vice President for Facilities Services Tim Thimmesch said in a statement. "Hopefully the pendulum can be reinstalled at that location or we can find another suitable location on campus so people can enjoy it as a piece of art and stay safe."
This hasn't sat well with students, who clustered around the now empty space where the sculpture once swung, cheering and singing "Wrecking Ball" in protest. On Twitter, the wrecking ball has its own account (of course), and there's plenty of calls to #reinstalltheball.
If Miley can do it, why can't they? students wondered.
But the school isn't just trying to spoil students' fun, or wreck their dreams of becoming the next Miley Cyrus parody video viral sensation. According to MLive, they have a sense of humor about it. Thimmesch, who is concerned for students' safety, said he recognized the Miley reenactors were simply “college students being college students."
“It’s given us a few chuckles,” he said.
In case you haven't heard the song enough yet and somehow still need a reminder of the video that inspired it all: