Miley Cyrus is no stranger to being memed, but while many of those memes came while she was much more of an outlandish persona, in recent years, the biggest Miley meme has been from the early days of her career, when she was still known to many as "Hannah Montana." Here's how a clip from Cyrus' old Disney show became a defining meme of the 2020s.

pic.twitter.com/G0YO9kUShM

— out of context hannah montana (@OCHannahMontana) April 16, 2020

What Is The "Hannah Montana Waving Goodbye" Meme?

In 2010, the third season of Hannah Montana ended with Cyrus' titular character moving out of her house in the episode "Miley Says Goodbye? Part 2." As the episode ends, Cyrus gives a sad but strong goodbye to the house, giving it one last look before moving on to her future.

It took about 10 years until the scene became a meme thanks in large part to a tweet by @OCHannahMontana, which isolated the clip and opened it up for jokes. As the post came right at the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, many of the earliest memes using the clip were related to quarantine.

How Is The "Hannah Montana Waving Goodbye" Meme Used Today?

In 2024, the clip has been most popularly associated with stan accounts and fandoms. For example, on April 3rd, 2024, the Twitter account Nugu Promoter, which is focused on up-and-coming K-Pop groups, used the meme to signal that the group Kiss Of Life had "graduated," meaning they had become too big to cover on the account.

pic.twitter.com/L483jQdeXa https://t.co/jFxYjpcEZw

— nugu promoter (@nugupromoter) April 3, 2024

The tweet is representative of how the meme is popular in Western K-Pop fandom, as many examples of the meme from 2024 reference various K-pop acts.

time to twice you gave me the best years of my life, it’s sad to see you go pic.twitter.com/oM7FgaIugS

— wolfcut momo (@hiraizcn) April 7, 2024

BINI leaving nugulandia and starletdom this 2024 pic.twitter.com/hVwDKOde4f

— wiki 🍉🍉 (@maloikun) April 5, 2024

However, it is still used to signify a sad goodbye, with the clip used to illustrate someone remembering the good times.

---

For the full history of Hannah Montana saying goodbye, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.