Miley Cyrus has defended her use of little people as backing dancers.
The 'We Can't Stop' star is accompanied by short people on stage for her current Bangerz Tour, but insists they are employed to have fun rather than just because of their height.
Talking to MSNBC's Ronan Farrow, she said: "We're making them feel sexual and beautiful."
Speaking more specifically about one of the dancers, she added: "We're all about lifting her up and making her feel so sexy all the time, and having her dance - she's actually an awesome dancer.
"They're just like dancing, doing these cute moves and they're awesome dancers just on their own. It's not me telling them how to be.
"It's really funny how serious people take it. And [people are] like, 'You're racist.' And I'm like, 'Really?' We're like a bunch of kids dancing around in, like, bear [suits], we don't do choreography."
One of Miley's former backing dancers, Hollis Jane - who was spanked by the star on stage at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) last year - previously said she felt used by the singer.
She wrote: "I was a bear in Miley Cyrus' VMA performance and it was my first time doing anything like that... anything where I was being used because of my height, not because of my talent. And I will be the first one to tell you that standing on that stage, in that costume was one of the most degrading things I felt like I could ever do."
However, Hollis has now clarified her remark, saying she does not blame Miley, but "little people need to stop being seen, in my opinion, in the media as jokes."

Lupita Nyong'o used to pray for lighter skin.
The Kenyan actress received the Best Breakthrough Performance Award for her role in '12 Years A Slave' at Essence's magazine's seventh annual Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon yesterday (27.02.14) and accepted it with a speech telling how she overcame being "teased and taunted" for her "night-shaded skin".
She said: "My one prayer to God, the miracle worker, was that I would wake up lighter-skinned.
"The morning would come and I would be so excited about seeing my new skin that I would refuse to look down at myself until I was in front of a mirror because I wanted to see my fair face first. And every day I experienced the same disappointment of being just as dark as I was the day before."
Lupita, 30, said she found strength through supermodel Alek Wek when she was a teenager.
According to the New York Daily News newspaper, she explained: "A celebrated model, she was dark as night, she was on all of the runways and in every magazine and everyone was talking about how beautiful she was.
"Even Oprah [Winfrey] called her beautiful and that made it a fact ... When I saw Alek I inadvertently saw a reflection of myself that I could not deny.
"Now, I had a spring in my step because I felt more seen, more appreciated by the far away gatekeepers of beauty."
Lupita now finds herself in a similar position to Alex, as a positive role model for young black women, and is honoured to be thought of as such.
After reading a letter written by a young person, thanking her, she added: "I hope that my presence on your screens and in the magazines may lead you, young girl, on a similar journey. That you will feel the validation of your external beauty but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside. There is no shame in black beauty."

Ellen DeGeneres has joked "there will be Twerking" at the Oscars.
The talk show star is hosting the 86th Academy Awards on Sunday (02.03.14) for the second time, and joked that she'll be taking it less seriously than in 2007 and pulling some butt-shaking moves like Miley Cyrus.
She told website Access Hollywood: "There will be Twerking... I mean, I have a foam finger all picked out. It's gonna be classy... I'm gonna be so drunk, no memories. I'm not gonna remember a thing and that's my goal.
"I hope I remember nothing. The first time I did it sober and I thought, 'That's easy!' So this time I plan on drinking nonstop, and I'm live Tweeting which I couldn't do seven years ago.
"So I'll be Tweeting throughout the entire show, [plus] taking pictures of people in compromising positions."
Ellen has also promised to make fun of the nominees and has plenty of jokes lined up.
She added: "They [the nominees] should be filled with fear! ... I'll be in the audience a lot and I will be playing with people in the audience a lot. Sometimes they'll know it and sometimes they won't. Nobody's gonna get hurt, but there's fun to be had."
The Oscars 2014 will be broadcast on channel ABC in the US live from Hollywood on Sunday.

Sarah Harding was "too skinny" when she was in Girls Aloud.
The 32-year-old singer admits she was too thin when she was part of the band - also consisting of Cheryl Cole, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh and Nadine Coyle - but she's now comfortable with her weight.
She said: "I was too skinny when I was with the girls, it was ageing.
"I've caught the juicing bug. I love being in the kitchen and cooking and creating juices and smoothies every day."
The blonde beauty has also decided to lay off alcohol for a bit and curb her passion for partying by spending cosy nights in with her boyfriend Mark Foster.
She explained to the MailOnline: "Me and my partner Mark are addicted to 'Breaking Bad'. We watch three episodes a night and sit there munching away on popcorn together."
However, despite her new settling down approach, Sarah insists she won't be following in the footsteps of her bandmates Nadine - who gave birth to a baby girl last month - and Kimberley - who just announced she's expecting her first child - because she has other stuff she wants to do in her life before becoming a mother.
She said at the time Kimberley announced her baby news: "I wasn't at all surprised, she's been with Justin [Scott] for years and years but it won't be me next. I have a lot of boxes to tick before I start a family."
Girls Aloud went their separate ways last year after reuniting for their 10th anniversary, and Sarah is now embarking on a solo career.

Simon Helberg broke up with his wife when he realised he wanted to marry her.
The 'Big Bang Theory' star has been married to actress-and-producer Jocelyn Towne for over six years and they're now working on a film together which will tell the story of how, when he realised he wanted to marry her, he ended the relationship instead.
He explained: "It's sort of embarrassing. It's about my wife and I and our break up before I proposed. I thought I would like to marry this girl, so first of all I'm going to systematically destroy my entire life and our relationship and lie and ruin all my friendships.
"I freaked out, I thought I had feelings for other people, I thought that I needed more of an exciting life. I had the perfect thing but for whatever reason...
"It was an exercise in self destruction."
Following the split, Jocelyn decided to move to Paris, France, where she met another man, but Simon went after her and eventually the pair ended up back in the US where he decided it was finally time to pop the question.
Speaking on the 'Late Show with David Letterman' last night (27.02.14), he joked: "I proposed immediately on her return because I thought if I can just trap her and force her to marry me that's the most romantic thing anyone could ask for."
The couple are now expecting their second child and Simon says he doesn't want to know the gender of the baby because "it's so boring when you know all those details".

Laura Vandervoort has got engaged.
The 23-year-old actress is set to tie the knot with her British boyfriend Oliver Trevena - whom she has been dating since summer 2013 - after the hunk popped the question while they were on a vacation in England over the Christmas period.
A source told UsMagazine.com: "The couple was visiting a castle in England and it was a really romantic setting. Oliver told Laura to close her eyes at 11:11am and when she opened her eyes he was down on one knee."
The brunette beauty wasn't expecting the romantic proposal from her beau, who accompanied his gesture with a stunning ring, but she gladly accepted and can't wait to start preparing their nuptials.
The source explained: "She was totally surprised, and he gave her a vintage diamond ring. She's over the moon and so happy."
Laura first sparked rumours she was engaged to Oliver after she was spotted flashing her huge sparkler on her ring finger at the Golden Globe award last month, before showing it off again at the Vanity Fair Young Hollywood party in Los Angeles on Tuesday (25.02.14).

Rihanna got Drake hooked on 'Breaking Bad'.
The 'What Now' hitmaker was "obsessed" with the hit series, which stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, and managed to get her rapper pal to follow the crime drama too.
Talking on London's Capital FM Radio station, Aaron said: "Drake told me the other night 'I've never watched the show but Rihanna was just so obsessed with it and so she got me on to it'."
Drake wanted Aaron to come and watch them on stage in Paris on Tuesday (25.02.14), where he was playing as part of his 'Would You Like A Tour', and Aaron admitted he was gutted to have missed the steamy duet which saw the pair perform 'Pour It Up' and their 2012 hit, 'Take Care' together.
Araon added: "He goes, 'I saw you the other night but I didn't go up to you and I texted Rihanna that I saw you and you were here in Paris and we were just very excited. We wanted you to come to the show' - and I just wasn't able to."

Charlotte Gainsbourg is considering quitting acting because she is finding it difficult ageing on screen.
The 42-year-old singer-and-actress - who has three children with partner Yvan Attal - finds it "distressing" to see how her looks have changed and knows she needs to "make peace" with the changes if she doesn't want to give up her career.
She told Marie Claire magazine: "I don't like ageing and I can see it happening. I find it very distressing.
"Movies are getting hard for me. I don't want to be embarrassed by my appearance when I see myself on film. So I don't have a choice really, either I make peace with the fact that I'm ageing and that my face is getting harsher, or I don't and I quit acting."
The 'Nymphomaniac' star always thought the anxiety she experienced turning 40 would have abated by now.
She added: "I find it truly horrible, this between two ages thing - neither too old but no longer young either. I thought turning 40 was the peak, the epitome of horror, but it doesn't get better. The decline doesn't stop.
"I used to think only attractive people suffered from this, but I can assure you plain women like me - although I don't think I'm ugly - suffer quite hard."
Although she hates getting older, Charlotte is still undecided whether to alter her appearance with cosmetic surgery in a bid to look younger.
She explained: "I'm not sure I would feel completely comfortable with it, but I'm not promising I won't. For the longest time I was one of those people who thought it was important to 'stay natural' but now I'm faced with the reality of it, I'm changing my mind a bit.
"This help ... I've heard it has to be minimal, so that nobody notices, and you have to do it early on. So I don't know when, but maybe some time soon."

Morrissey claims he doesn't know anybody who wants The Smiths to reunite.
The former frontman, whose band split in 1987, also insists there aren't any bands he would like to see reform because he wants to remember how they were in their heyday.
He told Billboard: "I don't know a single person who wants a Smiths reunion!," adding: "There aren't any bands I [would] like to see again because your memory of them is how they were in their prime or at their best or at their most desperate, and you look to them to be someone that they no longer are."
The 'First of the Gang to Die' singer also insists he was never influenced by The Beatles when he formed The Smiths with guitarist Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce in 1982.
Asked about the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four's first trip to America, he revealed: "I thought four of their songs were magnificient, and if a band can give you four magnificent songs then that's good enough for me. But was I ever influenced by The Beatles? No."
Morrissey, 54, will be joined by Cliff Richard and Sir Tom Jones on two dates on his US tour this summer, at LA's Los Angeles Sports Arena on May 10 and Brooklyn's Barclays Center on June 21.
He said: "Tom and Cliff qualify greatly in the style department, and age has nothing to do with it. There are millions of obese 19 year olds who only buy clothes that blend in with the couch."

Charlotte Church made a 16-year-old fan's dream come true by personally inviting him to join the 150 people who turned up for her guerilla music video shoot.
The 'Crazy Chick' singer took to the streets in her native Cardiff, Wales, to shoot her forthcoming video for the track, 'Little Movements', and asked fan Stanley Johnson to take part, an offer he was absolutely thrilled to accept.
The stunned A-level student, who was working behind the counter at a fishmongers when Charlotte approached him, said: "I didn't realise who it was at first, but it was great, good fun."
He added to Walesonline.co.uk: "I like to be in front of the camera. I study media at A-level and I wouldn't mind a career in the media."
Despite reports only one person turned up to appear in the video, after the 28-year-old singer told her fans about the opportunity on Twitter, she worked with more than 150 local people who wanted to take part with many joining in as soon as they saw local girl shooting her promo.
The video will be posted on YouTube in coming weeks and 'Little Movements' is taken from her upcoming EP 'Four, which is released in March.
Charlotte said: "I'm a 90s R&B kid at heart, and I love Cardiff. I wanted to do something that showed that. I knew that Cardiffians would have some moves up their sleeves and be down for a bit of a boogie!"

Britain's Princess Beatrice has had her Twitter account verified.
The 25-year-old royal - who has been part of the social networking site for a while now - has finally been given the approval from the company to show that her page is genuine.
The flame-haired beauty took to her account - the sixth post she's ever written - just after the blue verification tick was added to her page to thank Twitter for approving her.
She wrote: "So happy to be verified, thank you @TwitterUK (sic)".
Her father, the Duke of York - who has been on the site since last April - copied Beatrice's tweet onto his own page, so that his 40,000 followers could see that his daughter had finally been approved.
The princess' mother Sarah Ferguson - known as the Duchess of York - also has her own Twitter account and entertains 73,000 followers with her regular posts.
Meanwhile, Beatrice is currently on an internship with Sony Entertainment in London after leaving her job at an investment capital firm last summer.
She took the time in between to travel with her long-term boyfriend Dave Clark, while carrying out her royal charity work.

Haim insist they haven't changed since finding fame.
The 'Falling' hitmakers - made up of sisters Alana, Este and Danielle Haim - claim they act no different from when they were an unknown band living in California.
Alana told BANG Showbiz: "We're the same three girls from The Valleys that we've always been, we don't even think we've had the success that we want yet.
"We are going to keep going, keep making music and we're never going to stop!"
Este quipped: "Just wait til you meet my grandpa, then you will understand where we come from!"
Asked if they think success will affect their song-writing, Alana replied: "We'll see what happens, we write the best when we're all together at home, but we're starting to write on the road. It's a new experience but we're up for trying new experiences but it's rad."
The band won two awards at the NME Awards on Wednesday (26.02.14) for Best International Band and Best Band Blog or Twitter, and say even if they hadn't have found success in music, they have plenty of other talents.
Alana revealed she's good at nail art, while Este secretly wanted to become a circus performer after learning how to ride a unicycle.
Speaking before the ceremony, Este said: "Basically, when I was younger I wanted to be a part of Cirqu Du Soleil. The night is young if someone had a unicycle here I'd get on it."