Miley Cyrus Is Back as Hannah Montana, but Why Isn't Emily Osment Back As Well?

It's been a long time since Miley Cyrus was Hannah Montana, but Disney has reunited the singer and her famous Disney Channel character for a 20th anniversary special. The special, which seems designed to get millennials nostalgic about their own childhoods, will feature guest stars and plenty of cameos from the original show.

One person who isn't in the anniversary special is Emily Osment, who played Miley's best friend Lily Truscott. Following the news that Emily wasn't returning for the special, many naturally wondered whether Emily and Lily are still friends. Here's what we know.

We don't know for sure how close Miley and Emily are, but it doesn't seem like the two of them hate each other. Emily's absence from the special was not because of her relationship with Miley, but because she was busy filming her current series, Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, a spinoff of Big Bang Theory spinoff Young Sheldon. Emily explained this in a video posted to her Instagram in which she discussed feeling old because of the show's 20th anniversary.

"We're at the Georgie & Mandy set, and that's why I was not able to be a part of the 20-year reunion," she explained, showing viewers a 360-degree view of the set. "I wanted to say hello and thank you to everybody that has stuck by us for all these years. I'm so grateful that you guys all still love this show. I'm so proud to be a part of it."

In the caption under the post, Emily was effusive about the show and about the way it shaped who she is as an actor.

"Hannah Montana changed my life; it gave me a lifelong respect for this medium of comedy, it taught me discipline, patience, timing, and respect working in an adult space so young," she wrote. "I’ve met thousands of HM fans over the years, fans that now have children watching this show and fans that literally work beside me every day, like Montana."

"He’s seen every episode, don’t be fooled. I can’t tell you what your sweet messages mean to me and how lucky I feel to have been a part of this once-in-a-generation goliath of a television show," she continued. "Thank you for letting me into your living rooms, and I hope to still be there many years from now. Would never be where I am without you guys, working on another beautiful show I love so dearly."

Emily and Miley don't seem to be particularly close friends these days, but there's no indication of any animus between them, and Emily doesn't seem to harbor any ill will about the show at all. Instead, one work commitment kept her from fulfilling another. She is clearly immensely grateful for her time on Hannah Montana, even if she wasn't able to swing an appearance on the 20th anniversary special.