Taylor Swift may have won the most Moonmans on Sunday, but it was her reunion with rapper Kanye West on the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) stage that stole the show, as West declared he will run for the US presidency in 2020.
West, who famously stormed the stage and snatched the microphone from Swift in 2009 during her acceptance speech, was given the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award on Sunday by Swift, in a VMA moment that came full circle.
“Everyone in the world knew about our infamous encounter at the VMAs, but something you may not know is Kanye West’s album College Dropout is the very first album I bought on iTunes,” she said.
Photo: Reuters
After a standing ovation, West rehashed the 2009 incident along with many other musings on the authenticity of artistry.
He ended his speech by declaring, “I have decided in 2020 to run for president,” quickly riling up social media.
Swift won video of the year, the night’s top award, for the star-studded music video of her revenge song Bad Blood, which is reportedly about her feud with Katy Perry
Sunday’s awards show was all about the shock factor as a scantily clad Miley Cyrus, 22, cursed her way through her hosting duties, flashed a bare breast accidentally and performed a new song about smoking marijuana.
Singer Justin Bieber returned to the VMA stage after a two-year break to perform two new tracks, tearing up at the end of his performance.
Swift led the winners with four Moonmans, including best female video and best pop vide for Blank Space. Others included New Jersey rapper Fetty Wap, who was named artist to watch; Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson, whose summer hit Uptown Funk! was named best male video, and Nicki Minaj, who won best hip hop video for Anaconda.
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