Last month, Kim Kardashian was officially pronounced the most followed person on Instagram after she dethroned Beyonce. Her reign was pretty short, though, after the Swifties around the world united and granted their leader the crown.
Taylor Swift is now the most followed person on the ‘Gram as she
reached the 45.5 million followers mark before Kimberly, who was
boasting 45.4 at that time. It is kind of ironic that the post which
might have tipped the singer over the Instagram edge was related to
Kardashian’s husband, Kanye West. In case you missed it, Ye sent the songstress flowers
after the 2015 MTV VMAs, thanking her for handing him the “Video
Vanguard Award” during the ceremony. The snap of Taylor and the bouquet
raked in 2,5 million likes.
Swift might be the leader right now, but we are sure this will be a
pretty close race. Plus, Beyonce is close behind them with over 45
million followers and we all know what the BeyHive is capable of, right?
Justin Bieber delivered
such a powerful performance of “Where Are U Now” and “What Do You Mean?” at the 2015 MTV VMAs that he cried once he was done. Right after he capped off his appearance with an aerial stunt, the singer reduced himself to tears in front of the audience.
While speculations on his emotional reaction are still circulating the web, TMZ reached out to their sources at the awards show to shed light on his breakdown. According to the website, Bieber was very nervous before the performance, because it was his first at the VMAs in five years. His tears were actually a sign of relief that he nailed his comeback act.
You can watch the performance here and then follow this link for the music video for “What Do You Mean?”, which was liberated during the ceremony. Justin’s fourth studio album is reportedly coming out on November 13th.
One of the highlights
at the 2015 MTV VMAs last night was Nicki Mina dissing Miley Cyrus while accepting the award for “Best Hip-Hop Video.” Capping off her brief acceptance speech, Onika called out the host who was standing on another stage near her. The reason for the showdown was Miley’s recent interview with New York Times, where she addresses the Young Money dive complaining about “Anaconda” not being nominated for “Video of the Year” and “Best Choreography.”
While we were wondering if the raptress was serious when she got at Miley, MTV spokesperson detailed the controversial moment and explained the incident was not scripted or anticipated in any way. Journalists in the crowd and backstage also confirmed the same information. In other words, the pop beef between Nicki and Miley is officially on!
Both artists are yet to address the confrontation. Minaj wrote on Twitter she had “much fun walking up there” to receive the statuette, but didn’t specifically touch on the unexpected name drop.
Kanye West accepts the Video Vanguard Award onstage during the
2015 MTV Video Music Awards at
Microsoft Theater on Aug. 30, 2015 in Los
Angeles, California.
Kevin Winter/MTV1415/Getty Images For MTV
The 2015 MTV Video Music Awards were a night to remember. Kanye told
the world he's running for U.S. president in 2020, Taylor Swift won big
and premiered a new video, and Miley Cyrus closed out the show by
dropping a free surprise album. On the flipside, wouldn't it have been
great to see her sort things out with Nicki Minaj?
Billboard recaps the best and worst moments of the night:
The Best Moments
Kanye in 2020!
So yeah, Kanye West
said he's running for president in 2020. Here's to the future. But that
wasn't the only good thing about his Video Vanguard acceptance speech.
First, Taylor Swift
introduced him and cleared the air over his legendary VMA interruption
seven years prior. Then Ye launched into a life-affirming speech that
pulled the curtain on the cutthroat nature of awards shows and spouted
love and support for artists everywhere.
And throughout the show, #HappyKanye beamed and smiled adoring grins
as he took the evening in with wife Kim Kardashian West. He danced to The Weeknd. And he even dozed off a bit:
Justin Bieber cries after completing his comeback
It's been a long and rocky road back for the Biebs, and the raw
emotion he showed after spirited performances of top 10 hit "Where Are U
Now" and new single "What Do You Mean" showed it.
While the pop star seemed breathless at times, it didn't matter one
bit to the adoring crowd that rightfully treated the 21-year-old to a
standing ovation following his aerial acrobatics.
Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj lay their bad blood to rest
After trading barbs in a brief back-and-forth last month over a
perceived snub for "Anaconda," Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift officially
made friends again.
Swift took the stage to perform "The Night is Still Young" in a
surprise appearance with Minaj before closing their performance by
teasing Swift's "Bad Blood." The peace offering came not a minute too
soon, as Minaj had her sights firmly set on calling out host Miley Cyrus for her comments about race in The New York Times.
Demi Lovato performs "Cool for the Summer"
Summer's almost over, but we see Demi staying cool for a long time.
The singer performed her latest top 20 single outside the Microsoft
Theater, first from a beach chair, and eventually on a giant inflatable
boat. She also brought along Iggy Azalea for a surprise performance.
The Weeknd is in flames
After topping the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this summer, The Weeknd
enjoyed another career milestone by performing his biggest hit at the
VMAs. "Can't Feel My Face" was in literal flames, as Abel Tesfaye
performed it within a ring of pyrotechnics on the VMAs stage.
Taylor Swift debuts "Wildest Dreams" video
It was a big night for Taylor. "Bad Blood" took home the prize for
video of the year, and debuted her hotly anticipated video for "Wildest
Dreams." The cinematic, Joseph Kahn-directed piece started off in the
Serengeti and ended in the big city. The first ballad single off 1989 also treated fans to model-turned-actor hunk (and Clint's son) Scott Eastwood.
Miley surprise drops her new album… for free
Of course Miley assured that the show ended on a high note. In the
final seconds of the live telecast, the host capped off a lengthy Wayne
Coyne-assisted performance by announcing that her new album Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz was streaming online for free.
The Worst Moments
Jared Leto awkwardly introduces The Weeknd
What do you do when you flub your VMAs intro line? If you're Jared Leto, stay the course and say it again.
"It's time to get sexy."
"It's time to get sexy."
The statement was so awkward he said it twice. Sporting the Joker's
slicked-back blonde hair and sunglasses, the Oscar winner and Thirty
Seconds to Mars frontman was not on his A-game tonight. Luckily The
Weeknd was, so Leto's creepy moment may go down as an afterhought.
Amber Rose's entourage's offensive outfits
Amber Rose attends the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Kevin Mazur/WireImage
While Amber Rose and Blac Chyna's expletive-emblazoned jumpsuits
caught most of the headlines and red carpet interview attention, it was
their two companions' black and white clothes covered in the "other f
word" that arguably crossed a line.
We're all for making statements and pushing the envelope. We get that
Rose and Chyna receive a ridiculous amount of sexist Internet vitriol,
and their outfits were a way for them to turn the tables on their haters
and promote their feminist Slut Walk LA. But there was nothing artful
about their companions' presentation of the sensitive term. Without an
explanation, it reeked of a cheap attention-grabbing tactic.
They wouldn't let Nicki finish
First, Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" won the Moonman for hip-hop video of
the year. Her acceptance speech started unassumingly enough (with a
shout-out to her pastor thrown in) but quickly shifted to the host. "Now
back to this b---- who had a lot to say about me in the press the other
day... Miley what's good?" Cyrus, who had been critical of Minaj's
racial commentary days prior, quickly responded by shifting the blame to
the press. The camera showed Nicki still yelling Miley's way, but her
mic was muted.
Regardless of what side you were on, wouldn't it have been great to actually hear all of what Nicki had to say?
What was the most talked-about moment at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards? Was it Miley Cyrus' technicolor hosting gig and surprise finale? Was it Taylor Swift joining Nicki Minaj onstage after their brief beef -- or maybe Nicki calling out Miley for some comments she made last week? Or was it Kanye West's epic Video Vanguard Award speech, complete with a 2020 presidential campaign announcement? (Yeah, probably that one.)
Those were just the crazy things you saw on Sunday night's telecast,
but there was plenty that went down behind the scenes at Los Angeles'
Microsoft Theater, from the red carpet to backstage to right in the
audience, and Billboard was there to see it all.
Below, the 31 things you didn't see on TV:
