Miley's VMAs Date Turned Himself In To the Police

When Miley Cyrus made headlines for the second year in a row at the 2014 Video Music Awards, it wasn't for what everyone was expecting. After the 2013 VMAs, when Cyrus became an international topic of discussion following her performance with Robin Thicke, using her fame to raise awareness for a cause at an award show was the last thing we saw coming. However, Cyrus had a homeless youth accept her award at the VMAs and draw attention to My Friend's Place, a charity Cyrus supports that helps homeless youths lead independent lives. Her date, Jesse Helt, has turned himself in to the police and that is admirable for a lot of different reasons.

After Cyrus had Jesse accept her award for her, it didn't take people to start digging into the identity of her mystery date despite Jesse's reluctance to release his last name. As it turns out, Helt isn't actually homeless in the traditional sense; he left home to pursue his dreams in Los Angeles and ended up on the streets there even though his mother says he can come home at any time. Worse, it turned out that there is a warrant for Helt's arrest.

According to Polk County Community Corrections, Helt turned himself in to police in Dallas, Oregon and posted his $2,500 bail. He's expected to appear before a judge in two weeks. According to US Weekly, Trevor Neilson, who got Cyrus in touch with Jesse to begin with, released a statement to AP about her involvement in the situation. "Jesse Helt turned himself in tonight to Polk County authorities to address his outstanding legal issues. Miley Cyrus will be assisting him with this process, and they both are committed to working to help the other 1.6 million youth who experience homelessness in America each year."

It's very brave of Helt to resolve his legal issues. Yes, it's arguable that he's only doing it because he's been catapulted into the public eye, but the fact of the matter is that Helt's background has been a large distraction from Cyrus' cause. Thankfully, she has still been able to raise a lot of money for the organization, but more attention is being given to Helt than is being given to homeless youths and that's not what Cyrus wanted at all. For Helt to turn himself in now seems like a powerful statement; it seems like he's trying to take away some of the media speculation so it stops detracting from the actual point of his VMAs appearance.