It’s summer time, and that means young Hollywood stars are out to generate hits on social media. As singer Miley Cyrus and Kaitlynn Carter (of MTV’s The Hills) know, there’s no better way of capturing global attention than a little same-sex smooching on holiday.

Apparently candid photographs of the two women locked in a passionate embrace on the deck of a yacht cruising Italy’s Lake Como have been circulating over the weekend; however, the images are surprisingly sharp and in focus, suggesting that perhaps these aren’t your typical paparazzi shots.

The two women have both recently ended long-term relationships. Kaitlynn Carter split with Brody Jenner, whose parent is Caitlyn Jenner. Miley’s split with Aussie actor Liam Hemsworth was confirmed this weekend with a rep saying, in what might rank as one of the most legendarily absurd breakup announcements of all time, that they would “still remain dedicated parents to all of their animals.”

Carter has been documenting their trip around Italy (is Liam home minding the bunnies?) on Instagram, and fans keeping an eye on Kaitlynn’s updates would appear to include none other than her ex. Jenner, 35, commented on one photo of his former flame posing with Cyrus: “Hot girl summer.”

Jenner replied to the snap, adding a fire emoji and both she and Cyrus have now adopted the catchy three-word phrase as a hashtag, almost as if they had pre-planned it all in a cynical marketing ploy.

Not to be outdone, Miley took to Instagram to deliver a humble and reflective homily in which she compared her split with Hemsworth to the evolution of the planet.

“Don’t fight evolution, because you will never win. Like the mountain I am standing on top of, which was once under water, connected with Africa, change is inevitable,” Cyrus wrote.

Just in case the sick bag wasn’t yet full, Brody then posted his own words of wisdom. Next to a photo of himself standing thoughtfully on a cliff he wrote, “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”

Mmm, yeah.

Brody’s friend Brandon Thomas Lee, 23 (the son of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee), who apparently mistook this carefully curated PR exercise for a genuine social-media exchange, bro-replied: “Let’s round this scandal out and band post a pic of us making out.”

Struggling to regain the appropriate tone, Brody replied: “Watch out! Pics of Liam and I holding hands on the beach coming soon.” 

Fortunately, Miley brought everyone back on message, saying, “Go take a nap in your truck and cool off. #HotGirlSummer.”

Keen students of pop culture will know that Miley was alluding to a bit in The Hills: New Beginnings in which Jenner stormed off after a fight with Carter to spend the night sleeping in his truck.