Miley Cyrus Contest Duped by "Dead Dad" Essay, But Withdraws Grand Prize

• Dec 30, 2007 03:21 PM ET
• by TV Guide News

An essay that started off, "My daddy died this year in Iraq... " and in turn won a 6-year-old fan a Hannah Montana makeover and four tickets to a sold-out Miley Cyrus concert has since been exposed as utterly false. That's right - there's no dead dad. (Watch a video of the mother being confronted here.) "We did whatever we could do to win," the girl's mother admitted to Dallas-Fort Worth's KDFW Channel 4. "But when [the contest sponsor] asked me if this essay is true, I said, 'No, this essay is not true.'"

As a result and after much deliberation, Club Libby Lu - the mall chain that ran the essay contest and has already delivered on the makeover - has decided not to fly the Garland, Texas, girl to Albany, New York, to attend a Jan. 9 concert. "Club Libby Lu greatly values honesty and integrity," the retailer says in a statement. "In order to uphold these values, we have decided to withdraw the award initially given to the Ceballos family. Consequently, we will award the prize to another winner."

Now can we please take a long hard look at the person - the girl herself, perhaps her mom? - who originally thought that lying about a father's death in Iraq was worth concert tickets? I mean, we're not lobbying for a visit from Joe Namath here.

POLL: Should the 6-year-old girl have been able to keep the tickets? Vote here.