Foam finger inventor angered over Miley Cyrus performance

Miley Cyrus perform at the MTV Video Music Awards. (Scott Gries/Invision/AP)

Creator of the iconic foam "No. 1 hand" Steve Chmlear won't be cheering in the front row of a Miley Cyrus concert any time soon.

Commonly used among sports fans to root for their idols, the foam finger was recently used by Cyrus a prop during her controversial MTV Video Music Awards performance.

"She took an honorable icon that is seen in sporting venues everywhere and degraded it," said Chmlear in an interview with FoxSports this week. "If I had a choice between Julie Andrews singing 'The Sound of Music' and Miley Cyrus doing 'Can't Stop,' I'd go the Julie Andrews route." A giant foam finger modeled after the one created by Chmlear in 1971. (iStock)

Now 59, Chmlear says he invented the prop in 1971 at the age of 16 to support his high school basketball team in Iowa.

Cyrus used the finger to gyrate and twerk with during her sexually-charged VMA performance on Sunday evening.

"I would say that it certainly misrepresented its intent to encourage team support," said Chmlear. "Fortunately, the foam finger has been around long enough that it will survive this incident. As for Miley Cyrus, let's hope she can outlive this event and also survive."

But Lisa Katnic, who designed this specific foam hand for Cyrus to use at the VMAs, feels differently.

"Honestly, of any person I've worked with, [Miley]'s the nicest, most genuine celebrity I've met ..." she said to Yahoo! Music. "She's 20 years old, hot and having fun. What college-age person wouldn't?"

What are your thoughts? Does the creator of a particular product have the right to complain over how it is used publicly?