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The 2023 MTV VMAs are set to be held on Sunday, May 7, 2023. However, the star-studded event has been quite colorful with drama and controversy on stage. Fans still remember when Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift during her speech, which they believe gave birth to the latter's Reputation era. According to Harper's Bazaar, the singer even had sneaky disses at Ye in her song Look What You Made Me Do.
The publication and fans believe that certain lines were disses at the Praise God singer. These lines in particular have caught the eyes of fans since Swift's song released in 2017:
“I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time/ Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time/ I got a list of names, and yours is in red, underlined/ I check it once, then I check it twice, oh!/ Ooh, look what you made me do.”
However, the Swift and Ye drama is just one of the controversial moments that took place at the MTV VMAs. From Lady Gaga wearing her infamous raw meat dress to Miley Cyrus twerking during a performance, the MTV VMAs have seen quite a lot, especially in the last two decades
MTV VMAs: Top 5 controversial moments that are etched in the audience’s minds
1) When Ye interrupted Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift won the award for Best Female Video for her song You Belong With Me in 2009. However, when she went up on stage to receive the award and deliver the speech, Ye jumped on the stage and interrupted her. The chaos it caused on social media and the internet was so massive that even those who didn't watch the MTV VMAs knew what happened.
After Swift won the award, Ye joined her on the stage and delivered a rant about how Beyoncé should have won the award instead. He said that the latter had one of the "best videos of all time." Taylor was nominated for the award for You Belong With Me while her main competitor was Beyoncé's Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).
When he interrupted, the Mercy singer took the microphone from Swift and said:
“Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish. But Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!”
When the cameras cut to Beyoncé, she was seen mouthing the word “Oh Kanye” and staring at the stage in surprise. According to Billboard’s account, Pink came up to Kanye and gave him an earful for his behavior, and shortly afterward, he was asked to leave the premises. MTV removed all the official footage of that MTV VMA moment from the internet, and whatever is available is fan cam videos of the incident.
Several people blamed Kanye's behavior on alcohol as he appeared on the red carpet with a bottle of Hennessy.
2) Taylor Swift saying “Shut the f*ck up” during the One Direction acceptance speech
Fans have constantly speculated about Taylor Swift's love life and 2013 was full of rumors about Taylor and Harry Styles' break up.
Only eight months after the supposed break up, the two had to come under the same roof during the MTV VMAs where One Direction won the Best Pop Video Award. As the boy band gave their acceptance speech and praised their fans, the camera cut to Swift, who was looking her best friend Selena Gomez and supposedly saying:
“Shut the f*ck up.”
On the very same night, Taylor also had a win in the Best Female Video category at MTV VMAs for the song I Knew You Were Trouble. In her acceptance speech Swift seemed to have made a snarky remark about Harry Styles as the camera cut to Styles' bandmates smiling at him when she said:
"I want to thank the fans because I tweeted about this a lot, I really wanted this. I also want to thank the person who inspired this song because he knows exactly who he is, because now I've got one of these.”
It was widely believed at the time among fans that the song might have been about John Mayer, another one of Taylor’s ex. However, after this incident at the MTV VMAs, many started theorizing the song was about Harry Styles.
3) Lady Gaga appeared wearing a meat dress
In the 2010 MTV VMAs, Lady Gaga had 13 nominations which is a record-breaking number for any artist. However, it wasn't just her nominations that made the news, the singer, known for her previously controversial sense of style, made a statement with her dress as well.
She attended the MTV VMAs in a dress made out of raw meat, and to complement her outfit, she also carried a hat, purse, and shoes made out of raw beef as well.
However, the controversy was watered down when Gaga opened up about her intentions behind the dress at MTV VMAs. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, she said that it was her way of protesting against the military and its policies against gay soldiers. She told Ellen that her dress had many interpretations and for her, on that evening it was:
“If we don't stand up for what we believe in, if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones."
4) Miley Cyrus stripping down for a performance
Miley Cyrus shocked everyone as she stripped to a latex nude bikini and started twerking on stage and dancing with Robin Thicke at the MTV VMAs. The twerking and the sticking out of her tongue was one of the controversial moments of the MTV VMAs. However, it was more than that, it shattered her Hannah Montana Disney image for the audience and ushered in a new era for the singer.
The best reaction that became an instant meme was probably given by Jaden Smith, Will Smith, and Willow Smith, who were in the audience and looked flabbergasted.
Later in 2017, Miley Cyrus opened up about the MTV VMAs performance to Harper's Bazaar. She said that it became something that was expected of her and that she didn't want to be the girl who stuck her tongue out at every photo shoot. The Flowers singer added that initially, it felt like she was saying, "Girls should be able to have this freedom." However, later it made her feel s*xualized.
In another interview in 2018, she said that it changed the culture and her life, and her career as well. The Climb singer noted that it inspired her to do something much bigger with her platform. She added:
"If the world is going to focus on me and what I am doing, then what I am doing should be impactful and it should be great."
5) Britney Spears, Madonna, and Christina Aguilera k**s
The 2003 MTV VMAs might have been the most controversial one so far because of the k**s that was shared between Britney Spears, Madonna, and Christina Aguilera on stage. It is still seen among queer fans as one of the most iconic MTV VMA moments. However, many got offended at the performance as well.
That being said, fans were most concerned about Justin Timberlake's reaction to it. The singer who had just broken up with Spears sat flabbergasted in the audience, which only made the moment funnier for viewers.
Britney and Christina were performing Like A Virgin, and Madonna popped up from a cake wearing a suit. Then Madonna k**sed both of them on stage while cameras were rolling. Many celebrities had wholesome reactions, including Snoop Dogg, who was seen cracking up in laughter when the camera panned to him.
MTV VMAs will be held on May 7, 2023, at 8 pm at the Barker Hangar in Los Angeles, with Drew Barrymore as one of its hosts.
