It’s been six years since Kanye West famously bumrushed the stage during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Music Video Awards. While running through her list of thank you’s for Best Female Video (“You Belong With Me“), Mr. West insisted that the Moonman trophy go to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies,” which he crowned “one of the best videos of all time.”
Kanye’s run-in with TayTay wasn’t the only “WTF” moment to grace a VMA stage. Before the annual awards show touches down in L.A. this Sunday (Aug. 30), hit play on these YouTubes of some of the weirdest speeches here.
READ: MTV VMAs 2015: 10 Visuals That Highlight The Genius Of ‘Video Vanguard’ Kanye West
Miley Cyrus’ “homeless” date accepts her award
Before tackling hosting duty at this year’s VMAs, Miley Cyrus took a homeless, young man as her date to the 2014 awards show. The man, named Jesse Helt, even accepted the Video Of The Year award on her behalf for “Wrecking Ball.” While the speech from Jesse Helt brought awareness to a great cause, there was still an air of awkward about it.
Fiona Apple calls bullshit on… the world
At the 1997 VMAs, singer Fiona Apple had a few choice words for everyone. After winning the Moonman for her breakout record “Criminal,” she used her minute at the podium to shout out Maya Angelou. The takeaway: “Go with yourself.”
Michael Jackson accepts imaginary award
On the late King of Pop’s 44th birthday, the 2002 VMAs honored MJ with what he thought to be the “Artist of the Millennium” award. While Britney Spears mentioned it as one of Mike’s accolades in the introduction, the music icon apparently missed the memo.
READ: MTV VMAs 2015: Remember That Time This Person Hosted?
Drake accepts his award on tour a day late
Though Drizzy couldn’t accept the trophy IRL for Best Hip-Hop Video for “Hold On, We’re Going Home” last year due to his tour with Lil Wayne, the 6 God gave his speech on his Boston tour stop, saying, “I know this is a hip-hop award, and I know a lot of you out there are frustrated, like, ’This is not a hip-hop song.’ And you know what? You’re right — I tricked you all. Rappers, better luck next year. Thank you.”
Taylor Swift aims petty diss at ex
Don’t misconstrue Taylor Swift’s sugary sweet demeanor for weakness. After bagging the trophy for Best Female Video for “I Knew You Were Trouble” in 2013, she took aim at the song’s muse (she had just broken up with Styles) during her acceptance speech. “I also wanna thank the person who inspired this song, who knows exactly who he is,” she said, “because now I got one of these!”