It’s kind of wild to think about now, but for a solid seven years, Brenda Song and Trace Cyrus were basically the "it" couple of the Disney-adjacent universe. If you were online in the early 2010s, you remember. He was the heavily tattooed, edgy frontman of Metro Station (and Miley’s older brother), and she was London Tipton—the ultimate Disney darling. It was a classic "good girl meets bad boy" trope that played out in real-time across MySpace, Twitter, and grainy paparazzi shots.
But honestly, the distance between where they started and where they ended up is massive. We’re not just talking about a simple breakup here. We’re talking about years of "on-again, off-again" drama, a broken engagement, and some of the most bizarre, shocking allegations to ever hit the tabloid cycle.
Even now, in 2026, people still bring up Brenda Song and Trace Cyrus because the ending of their story was so jarring compared to the relatively quiet life Brenda leads today with Macaulay Culkin.
The Chaos of the Early 2010s
They went public in May 2010 at a Nylon event. People were obsessed. It was such a weird pairing on paper, but they seemed genuinely into each other. Trace was constantly posting about how she was his "everything" and his "muse." In October 2011, he popped the question. He even tweeted about it, saying he was "very excited" and that Brenda said yes.
Then things got messy.
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By June 2012, they called it off. Trace released a statement to People saying they were focusing on their careers. Standard celeb PR, right? Well, not exactly. Over the next five years, they were like a yoyo. They’d break up, delete their photos, then show up on a red carpet six months later like nothing happened. They officially—and finally—called it quits in 2017.
The Allegations No One Saw Coming
For years, the public narrative was just that they were "too different" or couldn't make the timing work. But in mid-2025, the internet exploded when Trace Cyrus took to Instagram to drop some absolute bombshells.
Look, we have to be careful here because these are allegations from one side of a very old relationship, and Brenda has largely stayed silent. But Trace didn't hold back. He accused Brenda of faking multiple pregnancies and even a terminal illness during their time together.
According to Trace’s Instagram stories, he claimed Brenda once showed up at their home claiming she’d just had a "brain tumor" removed in Chicago. He went as far as saying he physically pulled bandages off her head to prove there were no scars. He also alleged she faked an abortion using fake blood to manipulate him and his mother, Tish Cyrus.
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It sounds like a plot from a Lifetime movie.
Why This Still Matters in 2026
So, why are we still talking about Brenda Song and Trace Cyrus nearly a decade after they split?
Because it’s a case study in the dark side of child stardom. Trace himself alluded to this in his rants, suggesting that the pressure of growing up in the spotlight—Brenda on Disney and him in the Cyrus shadow—basically broke them. He framed her alleged actions as a mental health crisis.
Meanwhile, fans are torn. Some believe Trace is bitter and looking for clout; others point to old reports from 2011 where Brenda’s own mother, Mai Song, told the press Brenda wasn't pregnant despite the rumors at the time. It’s a tangled web of "he said, she said" that will probably never be fully untangled.
Where They Are Now
The contrast between their lives today couldn't be sharper.
Brenda Song has completely rebranded. She’s now half of one of Hollywood’s most beloved, low-key couples with Macaulay Culkin. They have two kids, Dakota and Carson, and they seem incredibly grounded. She rarely does interviews and stays far away from the "messy" side of social media.
Trace is still doing his thing with music and remains very vocal on social media. He’s often shared his struggles with fitness, mental health, and the weight of his family’s fame. He seems to be in a place where he wants to "speak his truth," even if that truth is incredibly uncomfortable for everyone else to hear.
The Realities of Toxic Patterns
If there's a takeaway here, it's that "on-again, off-again" relationships are usually that way for a reason. Often, we romanticize the "struggle" of a couple that keeps finding their way back to each other, but the Brenda Song and Trace Cyrus saga shows that sometimes, the "way back" is paved with toxicity.
- Public vs. Private: What we see on a red carpet or an Instagram post is maybe 5% of the actual relationship.
- The Cost of Fame: Growing up in a "fishbowl" can lead to extreme coping mechanisms or a blurred sense of reality.
- Moving On: You can completely reinvent your life. Brenda is living proof that a chaotic past doesn't have to define your future.
If you’re looking to understand the full scope of their history, it’s best to look at it through the lens of two people who were trying to grow up under a microscope while dealing with some very heavy, very private issues.
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Next Steps for You: If you’re interested in how Brenda moved past this era, you should look into her 2020 interview with Esquire where she discusses her "hands-on" parenting and her quiet life with Macaulay Culkin. It’s a great example of how to set boundaries after a public breakup.