© 2015 Taylor & Francis. Celebrities feature prominently in the media and popular cultural landscape of ‘tween’-aged girls. While there has been much speculation about the potential influence of celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Vanessa Hudgens on ‘tween’ girls, particularly with respect to ‘growing up too fast’ and becoming ‘sexy too soon’, research with tweens is lacking. This paper draws on material from a research project that explores the ways in which some preteen girls in two cities in New Zealand engage with the popular culture they encounter in their everyday lives. The focus is on the ways in which the participants respond to the image of Miley Cyrus on the cover of Vanity Fair in 2008, in particular, their critiques of this previously popular celebrity. We explore the ways in which the framing of Cyrus as a ‘bad role model’ and ‘slut’ is used to regulate celebrity identifications, viewing practices and girlhood identities.