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28 March 2024

MTV VMAs: Miley Cyrus raunchy; Taylor Swift crashes

Singer and show host Miley Cyrus arrives at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, August 30, 2015. (Reuters)

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By Reuters

In a night full of surprises, Taylor Swift shocked the audience within minutes of the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards kicking off on Aug. 30, crashing Nicki Minaj's opening number - and putting an end to recent rumors of the ladies' feud, which was prompted by a trending Twitter exchange between the two musicians.

Nicki Minaj performs 'The Night is Still Young' with Taylor Swift (L) at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California August 30, 2015. Reuters

Swift sang 'Bad Blood' with Minaj, who performed a medley of her hits, including 'The Night Is Still Young.' Decked out in red sequins, Minaj danced up a storm, but this time, she avoided a wardrobe malfunction a la last year's 'Anaconda' VMA faux pas.

However, Minaj did win best hip hop video for her 'Anaconda' video. When she accepted, she praised girl power, but not without making a dig at host Miley Cyrus ("you b--h," she yelled), bringing up a recent interview in which Cyrus appeared to diss the rap diva.

Recording artist Taylor Swift arrives at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, August 30, 2015. Reuters

Cyrus - who flashed her breasts, during the final moments of the show - reminded the crowd that the VMAs have not had a host for the past two years, "a tradition they'll probably return to immediately after tonight's show," she quipped, alluding to her 2013 headline-making performance with Robin Thicke, which set-off twerk-o-mania.

In the first act of the show, the 'Wrecking Ball' singer, decked out in eccentrically bright-colored costumes, dropped a few F-bombs and jumped into the audience to take an Ellen DeGeneres-type Oscars selfie.

Show host Miley Cyrus speaks on stage at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California August 30, 2015. Reuters

The first award of the night, presented by VMA queen Britney Spears, went to Bruno Mars for 'Uptown Funk,' though the awards were hardly the most interesting part of the award show.

The Weeknd pumped up the crowd, taking the pyrotechnic stage with his hit 'I Can't Feel My Face,' which prompted a gold-sequined Swift to stand up and dance in the audience, as she's known to do at award shows. The "1989" songstress was in good company with her #SquadGoals crew, including models Gigi Hadid, Karlie Kloss and singer Selena Gomez, who all appeared in her 'Bad Blood' music video. The video took away two awards during the night, including video of the year. Swift also won two moon men for 'Blank Space.'

Show host Miley Cyrus speaks on stage at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California August 30, 2015. Reuters

"I was going to keep my jacket on, but now that I know Justin Bieber can fly," Cyrus teased, then stripping off her sparkly fur coat to nothing but a skimpy metallic leotard, as she introduced the next presenters -- "Empire's" Jussie Smollett and Serayah, who took a more meaningful turn, mentioning recent headlines, including the Supreme Court ruling of gay marriage and #blacklivesmatter, in order to segue to the award for video with a social message, which went to Big Sean.

Miley Cyrus performs 'Do It' at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, August 30, 2015. Reuters

Other performers of the night included Demi Lovato with her summer smash 'Cool For the Summer,' Pharrell, Tori Kelly, A$AP Rocky with Twenty One Pilots and Cyrus who closed the show, accompanied by a slew of drag queens. In typical Cyrus fashion, she also dropped the biggest surprise of the night -- announcing that she dropped a new album, now available online for free.

From left: models Gigi Hadid and Martha Hunt, actress Hailee Steinfeld, model Cara Delevingne, recording artists Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift, actress Serayah McNeill, model Lily Aldridge, actress Mariska Hargitay and model Karlie Kloss arrive together at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California August 30, 2015. Reuters

Kanye West received the highest honor of the night, the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award, which was presented by none other than Swift, whom he infamously interrupted during her acceptance speech at the VMAs six years ago.

"Since then we've had a lot of time to talk about a lot of things," Swift said. "Something that you may not know is that Kanye's album 'College Dropout' is the first album my brother and I bought on iTunes when I was 12 years old."

Kanye West accepts the Video Vanguard Award at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, August 30, 2015. (Reuters)

She continued, "Kanye defines what it is to be a creative force in music, fashion and life, so to all the other winners tonight, I'm really happy for you, but I'm gonna let you finish," she joked, throwing it back to West's now-famous line when he grabbed Swift's mic.

"First of all, thank you, Taylor, for being so gracious," Kanye said. "I often think back to the first day I met you also... If I had a daughter at that time, would I have grabbed that mic from someone else?" he pondered, giving a shout out to his daughter North West with wife Kim Kardashian West, who sat in the audience. During West's lengthy speech, he touched on his past behavior, but did not apologize, explaining that he may continue to act erratically because, at the end of the day, he's standing up for artists.

Reuters

The rapper wrapped up his monologue joking -- we think? -- "I have decided in 2020 to run for president."

After West's show-stopping speech, Cyrus came back to center stage. "Woah, now we all know what happens to Kanye West when he smokes weed," she said.

And of course, the VMAs couldn't close without a mention of presidential hopefuls Donald Trump.

"Trump, you had my vote," Cyrus announced. "But now, Kanye West for president!"