14 DAY TRIAL // Miley Cyrus’ older brother, Trace Cyrus, of the band Metro Station, canceled a concert in Canada last week because he suffers from stress and anxiety attacks, made only worse by the harassment he’s been subjected to whenever he crossed the border into Canada.
Border agents always single him out for being covered in tattoos and for having a famous last name, and try to make an example of him. Because he can’t fight it, he chooses not to put himself in this type of situations anymore.
Trace Cyrus goes in stealth mode on Instagram
Trace and his band Metro Station were booked to perform in Canada, and Trace announced the cancelation in a post on his Instagram. Since then, he’s changed the account to private, but the same text has been uploaded on the band’s Facebook page.
It comes with a photo of Trace shirtless, showing off his extensive body art collection. Miley too has plenty of tattoos and has gotten a lot of media attention in recent years for constantly adding to it, but Trace is a whole different ball game: his entire torso, arms and neck are covered in ink, which also extends to his fingers and his face.
The bottom line is that his is not the type of bodyart that can be covered with clothes and / or makeup, which makes him a very easy target for the kind of discrimination he describes as being subjected to from Canadian border agents.
Being famous and tattooed is a very unfortunate combination
“Most every time I cross into Canada, border agents treat me like a criminal. Even though I've never been arrested, had a DUI, or any serious trouble with the law. With the image I have I become an immediate target,” he writes. “One of my last times going there I was put in a room for hours and interrogated and searched till after hours of them finding nothing they finally let me go. I suffer from severe anxiety and panic attacks and the idea of being detained in a room against my will is just something I can't handle mentally right now.”
Trace says that this type of abuse has been intensifying in recent months, and he can no longer cope with it, not even for the sake of his amazing fans from Canada.
A short while ago, Trace’s sister Noah claimed on social media that he was denied access into a Kentucky restaurant for the same reason, his visible collection of tattoos.
It could be that he really is singled out for being covered in ink and carrying a famous last name.