Hannah Montana star Mitchel Musso was noticeably absent from the show’s 20th anniversary special earlier this year — and now he’s revealing why.

“Of course they asked me [to be in it],” Musso, 34, revealed on the “Joe Vulpis Podcast” on Wednesday, June 24. “But, it wasn’t presented correctly [to me].”

Musso appeared in more than 70 episodes of the classic Disney Channel comedy series, playing Miley Stewart’s (Cyrus) best friend Oliver Oken alongside Emily Osment’s Lilly Truscott.

The star explained to host Joe Vulpis that he truly valued the opportunity to play Oliver again since he’d mostly been living outside the spotlight for the past decade. Instead, Disney opted for a retrospective look back at Hannah Montana.

“I’ve been waiting ten years,” he stressed. “The people, they say, 20. My break’s been 10. It’s too long of a wait to do it in a way that isn’t even close to, in my opinion, correct.”

The Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special aired in March and featured Cyrus, 33, looking back on memorable moments from the show, alongside host Alex Cooper and celebrity guests such as Chappell Roan and Selena Gomez.

In his new interview, Musso said he would relish the chance of actually getting to play Oliver again in a proper Hannah Montana episode.

“I need a wig,” he joked. “I’d want the hair, which is fine. I’ve worn [wigs] plenty of times on Disney. I’ve worn plenty of wigs. … I’d want to feel the part again. I’d want to put on that little polo again, and wear the … plaid shorts with the goofy shoes.”

The actor went on, “I’d want to play the character, yeah. Once I saw myself doing it, I’d say, ‘Oh, there you are!’ Let’s get out there and let’s do it.”

Musso was not the only major Hannah Montana cast member missing from the anniversary special, as Osment, 34, could not appear due to her filming obligationa on CBS sitcom Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.

“We’re at Georgie & Mandy … and that’s why I was not able to be part of the 20-year reunion, because we are here shooting our show,” she said in a social media video at the time. “But 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 the show. I’m so proud to be a part of it.”

Ahead of the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special airing in March, Musso paid tribute to the show with his own Instagram post.

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Miley Cyrus Claims Dad Billy Ray Once Smoked Pot on ‘Hannah Montana’ Set

Miley Cyrus is still fielding questions about Hannah Montana more than a decade after its end — and she has some hilarious memories to share. During the Thursday, June 19, episode of her mom Tish Cyrus and sister Brandi Cyrus’ “Sorry We’re Cyrus” podcast, the Grammy winner, 32, opened up about a moment that never […]

“Hannah Montana wrapped around my heart and never really let go. We literally grew up with ya’ll — long days, crazy schedules, learning lines, cracking up between takes, and figuring out life while the cameras rolled,” he wrote. “It taught me so many wonderful values, but the most important ‘to me’ is that laughter can get you through the tough days. That confidence still sticks with me every single day.”

He also shouted out his costars, writing, “Miley, Emily, Jason [Earles], Billy Ray [Cyrus], Moises [Arias], and the whole crew at Disney — you became my family through all the real, messy, beautiful moments. Thank you for believing in a goofy kid from Texas who wore some questionable outfits with a haircut like that. To all of you, thank you for welcoming me into your homes and hearts 20 years ago and still allowing me to be here today. I’m honored we get to share all of this together.”

Hannah Montana originally aired for four seasons between 2006 and 2011. Classic episodes, as well as the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special, can be streamed via Disney+.

CARSON CITY, Nev. (KOLO) -Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar is calling a federal court ruling against the Trump administration a “big victory” after a judge struck down a presidential executive order tied to voter “election requirements.”

The ruling blocks an executive order that would have mandated states require voters to provide proof of citizenship to register.

Aguilar said the decision is a recognition that states have the responsibility to run their elections.

“The constitution is very clear in that states have that duty and obligation,” Aguilar said.

Nevada and 18 other states described the ruling as an overwhelming victory in court.

The court also stopped threats to withhold funding from states that refused to comply with proof-of-citizenship requirements and it throws out a demand for states not to count ballots received after Election Day. However the Supreme Court is expected to make a ruling on the latter of the two in the coming days.

Aguilar said the executive orders were intended for partisan gain.

“I think the fact the president is trying to federalize elections shows he’s trying to influence the election, and again that’s wrong,” Aguilar said. “Voters should decide elections, the president should not choose his voters for our elections.”

Aguilar also said the cost to taxpayers if the executive orders had remained in place would have been an unfair burden.

“To hold states hostage from resources I think is detrimental to the overall responsibility of the federal government,” he said.

SANTA FE, N.M. – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked Attorney General Raúl Torrez to investigate whether any Drug Enforcement Administration agents broke state law when pills reached New Mexico streets.

In a statement, Lujan Grisham said, “make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities.”

The governor also shared a timeline from 2022 to 2025 that she said shows when she asked federal officials for help with New Mexico’s fentanyl crisis and violent crime.

Lujan Grisham said the first request came on June 21, 2022, when she wrote to then-Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray and asked for 50 additional federal agents.

She said she wrote to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland on Sept. 15, 2022, asking for more agents, resources and support for New Mexico law enforcement.

Lujan Grisham said she wrote Garland a second time on Aug. 8, 2023, with the same request.

What came next?

About a month later, Lujan Grisham said she sent Garland a third letter and said New Mexico needed more federal law enforcement to curb violent crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking.

She said her most recent request came on Sept. 4, 2025, when she wrote to former Attorney General Pam Bondi and again asked for additional agents and resources.

The governor’s statement says those requests span several years as she pressed the federal government for more help in New Mexico.

Full statement from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham:

“I am appalled by reporting this week by the Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal that revealed federal authorities made a deliberate decision to let hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills flood into New Mexico communities, despite knowing that fentanyl is so lethal the White House has designated it a weapon of mass destruction. 

Let me say that again: the Drug Enforcement Administration watched as 74,000 fentanyl pills were delivered to a mobile home park in Albuquerque, and they did nothing. And that’s just one transaction. Shockingly, the federal government stood by while monitoring shipments, tallying exact pill counts, and watching as these deadly drugs hit the streets.  

There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were. Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway. The result: hundreds of New Mexican parents burying their kids. Hundreds of New Mexican kids growing up without stable parents. All while the federal government stood by.  

If the justification for letting these pills flood our communities was that it would somehow make New Mexico safer down the road through bigger eventual busts, the results say otherwise. New Mexico now leads the nation in the increase in overdose deaths for the second straight year, despite deaths dropping nationwide. 

Today, I wrote to Attorney General Raúl Torrez and asked him to investigate whether any federal agents broke state law when they allowed lethal drugs to remain on our streets, and to prosecute anyone responsible — regardless of whether they are a federal agent or not. 

I have spent years working across two administrations — writing letters, traveling to Washington, meeting directly with President Joe Biden and his cabinet, pushing for accountability, asking for more federal agents to be deployed to New Mexico to help fight this crisis.  

• On June 21, 2022, I wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray, imploring the FBI to assign no less than 50 additional agents to New Mexico to stem escalating drug trafficking and violent crime.  
• On September 15, 2022, I wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland, requesting that the Department of Justice provide additional federal agents, resources and support to New Mexico law enforcement. We asked the department to match the level of investigative, analytical, and technical resources the FBI had deployed in its Buffalo, NY surge. 
• On August 8, 2023, I wrote again to Attorney General Garland, renewing my request that the DOJ expeditiously assign more federal agents to New Mexico.  
• On September 7, 2023, I wrote to Attorney General Garland for a third time, reiterating my request once more federal law enforcement support to curb violent crime, drug and human trafficking.  
• On September 4, 2025, I wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, once again requesting additional agents and resources.  

I have declared the surge of drugs like fentanyl to be a public health emergency. I have deployed the National Guard to both Albuquerque and Española. While my administration was doing everything we could to stem the tide of fentanyl coming into our state, the federal government deliberately allowed it to flood in. 

New Mexican lives are not the federal government’s cost of doing business. 

I plan to hold the federal government accountable for this disaster and will explore every possible avenue of action against the federal government to right these wrongs.”