Nicki Minaj called Miley Cyrus out at the MTV Video Music Awards after the 22-year-old said in an interview that the rapper was being a poor sport about not receiving a nomination for video of the year.
After collecting best hip-hop video for ‘Anaconda’ on Sunday, Minaj told the audience at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles: “And now back to this b***h that had a lot to say about me a lot in the press. Miley, what’s good?”
Minaj’s microphone was cut off, and Cyrus fired back with “we all know how they manipulate” words during interviews, referencing a pre-VMAs interview in the New York Times. Cyrus then stumbled over her words as she tried to read from cue cards about voting for the artist to watch award.
“I lost this award in 2008 and I was fine with it. Whatever! Because it’s no big deal. It’s just an award and I persevered,” she yelled, appearing to look over at Minaj.
She ended with: “Congratulations Nicki.”
In the recent interview, Cyrus criticised Minaj for her “pop star war” with Taylor Swift that began in July. On the show, however, rapper ended her issues with Swift at the show: The performers joined forces onstage.
After Minaj entertained the audience with her upbeat ‘Trini Dem Girls’, Swift joined the rapper during her performance of the ‘The Night Is Still Young’.
Swift wore a bright red dress that mirrored Minaj’s ensemble. Swift then performed some of her hit, “Bad Blood,” as Minaj danced around her. They closed with a hug.
Swift, who was the top nominee with 10, traded words with Minaj over Twitter when the VMA nominees were announced in July. Minaj, who had one of the most viewed videos of the year with ‘Anaconda’, was not up for video of the year, and she tweeted that slim women easily earn top nominations and said black female entertainers don’t get enough credit for their influence on pop culture. Swift thought the rapper was referring to her and they traded words online, but later apologised.
Taylor took home four Moonman trophies, including the evening’s top prize, Video of the Year.
Her armful of prizes included Best Pop Video and Best Female Video for Blank Space, and Video of the Year and Best Collaboration for Bad Blood, featuring Kendrick Lamar.
Nicki beat out Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean and newcomer Fetty Wap, who took the prize for Artist to Watch.
Best Rock Video went to Fall Out Boy for their song Uma Thurman. The Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars track Uptown Funk won for best Male Video.
Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran began the evening with six nominations, but went home empty-handed.
The awards ceremony is as well-known for pop stars pushing limits as it is for the prizes they hand out, and the 2015 edition was no exception.
Miley hosted the show in a series of barely-there costumes, and as the audience posed for a photo she had them shout out “marijuana” instead of the traditional “cheese.”
Troubled star Justin Bieber performed his new single, ‘What Do You Mean’, after which he broke down in tears.
Rapper Kanye West announced plans to run for the US presidency in 2020, less than a minute after announcing he had “rolled up a little something to knock the edge off” before coming on stage to accept an award.
The Moonman trophy commemorates one of MTV’s earliest logos, a man planting an MTV flag on the moon. The network has held its Video Music Awards annually since 1984.
The winners:
Video of the Year: 'Bad Blood', Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar
Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award: Kanye West
Artist to Watch: Fetty Wap
Best Pop Video: 'Blank Space', Taylor Swift
Best Female Video: 'Blank Space', Taylor Swift
Best Male Video: 'Uptown Funk', Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
Best Rock Video: 'Uma Thurman', Fall Out Boy
Best Hip-Hop Video: 'Anaconda', Nicki Minaj
Best Collaboration: 'Bad Blood', Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar
Best Video with a Social Message: 'One Man Can Change the World', Kanye West
Best Direction: 'Alright', Kendrick Lamar
Best Editing: '7/11', Beyonce
Best Art Direction: 'So Many Pros', Snoop Dogg
Song of the Summer: Fifty Seconds of Summer - 'She's Kinda Hot'
Best Visual Effects: 'Where Are U Now', Skillrex and Diplo feat. Justin Bieber
AP and IOL