Emily Osment shares why she is not a part of the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special

Hannah Montana, the beloved Disney Channel series starring Miley Cyrus in the lead, is all set to celebrated its 20th anniversary with a Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special on Disney+ and Hulu, premiering on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

The show is incomplete without Hannah's best friend, Lilly, who was played by actress Emily Osment. She will not be a part of the upcoming 20th anniversary special and in an emotional post, she clarified the reason.

Prior work commitments prevented Emily Osment from being part of the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special

On Monday, March 23, 2026, Emily Osment, who famously portrayed Lilly Truscott, was not present at the premiere event of the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special that took place at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles.

That very day, Emily took to her Instagram to share a video explaining her absence from the premiere's purple carpet as well as the special. She shot the video from the sets of her ongoing show, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, saying that she had to miss the anniversary special since she was shooting for the show. "We're at the Georgie & Mandy set, and that's why I was not able to be a part of the 20-year reunion", the actress clarified in the video.

She continued, "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."

The 34-year-old actress also penned an emotional caption for her post, sharing how much Hannah Montana meant to her. Emily wrote, "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."

"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...I can’t tell you what your sweet messages mean to me and how lucky I feel to have been apart of this once in a generation goliath of a television show", she added.

20 years of Hannah Montana

Hannah Montana had first premiered exactly 20 years ago, on March 24, 2006, on Disney Channel. It ran for four seasons, concluding in 2010 but gave fans some of the best memories through characters such as Miley Stewart, who doubles up as a famous pop-star, Hannah Montana, Lilly Truscott, Miley's best friend, and more.

The Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special is set to feature Miley Cyrus's parents, Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus, another former Disney star, Selena Gomez, amongst other former cast members. Fans, most of whom are grown ups now, are eagerly waiting to take a trip down the memory lane with Hannah and her friends.

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