Miley’s homeless MTV Video Music awards date jailed for six months

A homeless man who accompanied Miley Cyrus to the MTV Video Music awards in August and accepted her prize has been jailed for six months. Jesse Helt, 22, violated the terms of his probation after he was arrested in 2010 for breaking into an apartment in Oregon. He was meant to have meetings with his probation officer, obey a curfew and complete 88 hours of community service. Instead, he moved to Los Angeles where he looked for modelling work and became homeless for a time.

I’d like to be viewed as a good person, not as a nuisance to society.

Jesse Helt

On Tuesday officers led Helt away in handcuffs shortly after he and his lawyer asked Judge Monte S Campbell for leniency. Cyrus met the young man during a visit to My Friend’s Place, a shelter for homeless youths in LA. She then invited him to the awards ceremony and let him accept her trophy for video of the year for Wrecking Ball. Helt used the platform to highlight the issue of homelessness among young people. But publicity from his appearance brought the probation violation to light. Days later, he returned to a rural community 60 miles southwest of Portland to surrender.

Jesse Helt Entertainment