Christopher Cody

Unless you’re a hardcore fan of the Cyrus family, it’s more than possible that the name Christopher Cody rings no bells. That would be because when it comes to forgotten celebrity children with famous younger siblings, the country legend Billy Ray Cyrus’ son is up there with the likes of Trey Smith and Alaia Baldwin.

Christopher was born on 8th April 1992, and brought up in South Carolina, USA, by his mother, a hardworking waitress named Kristen Luckey. His songstress sister Miley Cyrus, who recently topped global charts with her hit single “Flowers”, arrived into the world in November of the same year and was the fruit of Billy’s relationship with Tish Finley, who would later become his manager and wife.

Although Miley’s parents would secretly marry (against the advice of Billy Ray’s record company) and go on to have more children, Christopher and Kristen were almost treated as an afterthought; although the musician apparently promised Kristen that he would help her support their child, Christopher didn’t enjoy the same lavish upbringing as his half-siblings, and neither was he included in the Cyrus family’s reality show or other ventures over the years.

So, what became of the oldest Cyrus sibling? After studying at Myrtle Beach Intermediate School and Forrestbrook Middle High School, Christopher obtained a degree from the University of Texas’s School of Law and began serving as a judicial law clerk to Marina Garcia Marmolejo of the US District Court, a job that lasted two years. In September 2019, he joined Baker Botts as a litigation associate, performing the same job at his next employer, Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP.

Although the South Carolinian has yet to update his LinkedIn profile since leaving his last job at Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody in May 2023, Christopher is believed to still be working as a litigation associate. Although civil litigation in state and federal courts is his strong point, Christopher is also a skilled public speaker and researcher, whose talents have been vouched for by dozens of members of the LinkedIn community.

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However, that’s all we know regarding Billy Ray’s oldest son. Christopher’s Instagram profile, where he would upload selfies and the odd snap with his famous family members, has been untouched since 2015. The first and last time he gave an interview was in 2009, when he spoke to the UK Mirror about his humble part-time job at an electronics store, and his last meeting with half-sister Miley at one of her performances was in November 2007.

“While she was on stage I was watching her from the sidelines. Afterwards we spent 20 minutes in her bus. Her voice is fantastic and I’m very proud of my sister,” Christopher said. Despite singing Miley’s praises and reminiscing on happier times spent together as children at Billy Ray’s luxurious Tennessee mansion, Christopher was understandably upset to have been excluded by his paternal side of the family during his adolescence.

The difference in Miley and Christopher’s lifestyles and how Billy Ray treated them was bleakly obvious – while Miley, whose brand was worth up to $1 billion at the time of writing (2009), was given a recording studio for her 16th birthday, Christopher didn’t even receive a birthday card or  phone call. Although he avoided criticizing his father or half-siblings during the interview, Kristen was far more condemnatory.

“Chris reaches out to have a relationship, but it’s been months since they engaged,” the waitress told the UK Mirror. “He [Chris] tried to keep a lot inside but I know when he’s hurting and [it’s] really getting to him.” She also recalled how Billy Ray announced on TV that he had a newborn son and another child on the way. “That’s how I found out about Tish being pregnant with Miley… There was a lot of anger in me but we kept talking,” Kristen shared.

While Kristen and Christopher did admit that Billy Ray had financially supported his eldest son, both recognized that they wanted the country legend to make more of an effort in his relationship with his firstborn. When Christopher refused to talk to news outlets again after the 2009 interview, many assumed that he’d been paid off to keep quiet about Billy Ray’s lack of interest; however, the rumors were never confirmed.

It’s also telling that the South Carolinan and his mother had to talk to a foreign news outlet such as the UK Mirror, perhaps fearing that Billy Ray’s influence in American media would come with unwelcome consequences down the road, if they were to publicly denounce his parenting in a local TV show or publication.

It’s presumably been years since Christopher and his famous siblings reunited, but he does have at least two other half-siblings born to his mother, and is making a career for himself in the law field. Long gone are the days of working 20 hours a week at an electronics store; these days, Christopher is a respected professional with a long list of credentials to his name.

Billy Ray Cyrus

Despite Billy Ray Cyrus having a relatively tame personal life since settling down with Tish in the 1990s, the country musician and his wife of decades had their fair share of ups and downs before eventually divorcing for good in 2022.

Billy divorced his first wife, Cindy Smith, in 1991 after five years of union. As mentioned, in 1992 he fathered Christopher and Miley; shortly afterwards, Tish became pregnant with her and Billy’s second child, Braison Chance Cyrus, who was born in 1994. The couple’s third and last child, Noah Lindsey Cyrus, was born in 2000: while married to Tish, Billy also legally adopted her two children from a previous relationship.

The “Old Town Road” star filed for divorce for the first time in October 2010, citing irreconcilable differences. However, he confirmed months later that he’d halted the divorce proceedings. Similarly, Tish cited irreconcilable differences in June 2013 when filing for divorce, but in the next month, the couple once again abandoned the proceedings, and were reportedly attending couple’s counselling sessions.

As the A-list couple failed to appear in court, the second divorce case was officially dismissed in 2017. When Tish filed for divorce a second time in April 2022, the public paid little attention, believing that she and Billy would reconcile soon enough. That turned out not to be the case, as divorce papers revealed that they had been separated since 2020: by August 2022, Billy was engaged to Firerose, an Australian background singer whom he met on the set of “Hannah Montana” in the early 2010s.

Billy Ray Cyrus has an impressive net worth of $20 million, which is dwarfed by his daughter Miley’s vast $160 million fortune. Meanwhile, Christopher’s net worth is believed to be between close to $500,000.

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