MTV’s 2015 VMAs will forever go down in history as the night Kanye West declared his bid for a 2020 presidency, but there were plenty of other bizarre moments that made us go “What?!” throughout the night. Sure, some of the red carpet looks stunned us (in good ways and bad) as stars arrived for the show at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, Aug. 30. But it was really the unpredictable celebs who bewildered us.
Take, for instance, when Nicki Minaj dissed show host Miley Cyrus and called her a “bitch,” or the opening number in which the “Anaconda” singer seemingly mended fences with Taylor Swift. Or how about the moment when Justin Bieber broke down onstage?
Here’s a look at some of the most jaw-dropping moments from the awards show.
Beef squashed! Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift made peace after getting into a massive Twitter feud last month. The rapper, 32, and singer, 25, surprised the world when the “Bad Blood” songstress made a guest appearance on stage after Minaj opened the awards show with hit “Trini Dem Girls.”
Nicki Minaj isn’t afraid to blast her haters — even on live television. The rapper took the swipe at the host while accepting the award for Best Hip-Hop music video for her hit “Anaconda.” She thanked her “beautiful” fans and her pastor(!), before telling Cyrus off for talking about her in a recent New York Times interview.
The 22-year-old pop star kicked off his performance with his Skrillex-Diplo collab “Where Are U Now,” before nailing his first-ever performance of “What Do You Mean?” while clad in a black T-shirt and black baseball cap. As his performance was ending, he flew over the crowd, put his hands over his face, and became surprisingly emotional.
Imma let you finish… for real this time! Kanye West and Taylor Swift formally buried the hatchet onstage (for the gazillionth time!) as he accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. The “Wildest Dreams” songstress presented the awards show’s highest honor to her former nemesis, reflecting back on their special moment from 2009, when he rushed the stage and interrupted her acceptance speech.
What just happened? Kanye West delivered a memorable — and totally bonkers — acceptance speech, and capped it off with a bombshell declaration: his bid for presidency in 2020. The “FourFiveSeconds” rapper, 38, took to the stage toward the end of the show to accept his Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award and used his time in the spotlight to let America have a piece of his mind — a very long piece of his mind.