Has it really been that long? (Picture: Getty Images)
On this day 10 years ago, Miley Cyrus, a foam finger, Robin Thicke, and a nude latex two-piece sent shockwaves around the world.
The events of the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) are still burnt into our collective memories – Miley, fresh from her Disney-fied adolescence as the sickly sweet teen icon Hannah Montana, giving the biggest F-U to her past life and twerking her way right into her new one.
It was bold, it was brash, it was a moment – and it caused one of the biggest stirs in recent pop history.
In case you somehow need a refresher, on Sunday August 25 2013, stars including One Direction and Rihanna were left absolutely gobsmacked while watching Miley, who was 20 at the time, thrust her way across the stage at the Barclays Center in New York.
Not only was she thrusting with every fibre of her being, she also incorporated plenty of tongue and twerking during a rendition of Robin’s sexually-charged mega-hit of the moment, Blurred Lines, alongside the Magic Touch singer – who was 36 at the time.
Although Miley insisted she wasn’t trying to be ‘sexual’ as there were oversized teddy bears prancing around her, following the risqué firestorm, it was Robin, now 46, who got away lightly, while his co-performer faced the heat from angry mothers who claimed she was ‘corrupting the minds’ of innocent teens.
We all remember where we were (Picture: Reuters)
Miley Cyrus’s paradigm-shifting VMAs performance (Picture: Reuters)
The reactions from their fellow musicians were pretty mixed(Picture: MTV)
In the midst of the backlash, a month after the performance Miley told Rolling Stone: ‘People are like, “Miley thinks she’s a black girl, but she’s got the flattest ass ever.”
‘I’m like, “I’m 108 pounds! I know!” Now people expect me to come out and twerk with my tongue out all the time. I’ll probably never do that s**t again.’
Onlookers were left reeling in shock, and the world weighed in on the raunchy spectacle, with critics officially declaring the end of the youngster’s career.
Who can forget Miley’s on-screen Disney mother Brooke Shields, who branded the routine ‘desperate’?
The OG foam finger founder Steve Chmelar, even went as far as to say at the time that Miley ‘took an honorable icon that is seen in sporting venues everywhere and degraded it’.
The conversation further intensified after the release of the Wrecking Ball music video, which sees the star famously clinging onto and swinging on, well, a wrecking ball.
And to make matters worse, Robin sparked backlash as fans accused him of pointing the outrage in Miley’s direction.
‘Listen, I’m the twerkee,’ he joked to Oprah Winfrey at the time.
‘I’m twerked upon. I don’t twerk myself, OK? I’m just twerked upon. I was on stage. I didn’t see it. So to me, I’m walking out towards Miley [and] I’m not thinking sex. I’m thinking fun, you know.’
Miley Cyrus dominated the headlines in 2013 (Picture: Getty Images)
Although the criticism was seemingly never ending, Miley pretty much dominated the music charts and the headlines with the release of her album Bangerz, and also received love from Queen of Pop Britney Spears – who caused her own media storm at the VMAs in 2003 when she kissed Madonna on stage – who praised her younger counterpart for just being herself.
The annual VMAs ceremony has certainly exceeded in the unpredictable department since its debut in 1984, from Lady Gaga wearing a meat dress in 2010, Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift’s winning moment in 2009 and Beyonce announcing her pregnancy without saying a word in 2011.
However, with the annual musical event fast approaching us on September 12, pop culture experts have sadly predicted such bold, bombastic pop culture moments could well be behind us – with Miley’s act of defiance being one of the last of its kind.
Britney Spears and Madonna shared a smooch at the 2003 VMAs which of course sparked a big hoo-ha (Picture: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Yes, Lady Gaga rocked up to the VMAs wearing meat (Picture: MTV)
Oh and this (Picture: MTV)
‘We have artists like Sam Smith who will push the boundaries and of course Madonna who will never not be bold but I think with Janet [Jackson] and Justin [Timberlake- at the Super Bowl in 2004], we won’t see a VMA performance quite like Miley’s again,’ brand and culture expert Nick Ede told Metro.co.uk.
‘And that’s quite a sad thing as live performance and video are the keys to creating controversy, messaging and driving narratives.’
Reflecting on how society has evolved due to social media, Streamline PR director Joseph Hagan added: ‘In this era where celebrities can be cancelled for the slightest thing, it does lead to safe performances out of fear of offending someone.
‘In 2013 there was social media, but it’s nothing like it is now, someone could just make a TikTok and change the narrative of a performance.’
Despite the relentless trolling, Miley has continued to make her mark in the music industry and even transitioned from pop to glam rock with her 2021 album Plastic Hearts.
Miley Cyrus has done more than thrill fans with her latest single – she’s helping out supermarkets too (Picture: Getty Images)
And if that wasn’t enough, her 2023 breakup anthem Flowers – which many believe is a fiery diss track aimed at her ex-husband Liam Hemsworth – shot to the top spot on the UK’s music charts last week after racking up 203million global streams, and sparked a surge in Lidl’s plant sales.
Addressing her lasting impact following the twerking scandal. PR Executive Jack Proverbs said: ‘The performance truly rocked the music scene. It not only changed how artists perform on stage, but it shifted the direction of Cyrus’ music career.
‘Miley was of course one of the prominent pop princesses and her image had a complete transformation into an empowered woman who wasn’t afraid to act edgy, cut her hair and as seen at the VMA’s – twerk on Robin Thicke. Her performance is still talked about to this day as it’s one of the most controversial moments in VMA history.’
As we mark 10 years since the foam finger fest, we expect Miley hasn’t changed her tune on the matter.
Miley revealed that she was harshly judged following the VMAs (Picture: Getty)
In 2020, the LOL actress revealed that she was left unable to wear shorts or skirts in public after some viewers body-shamed due to the viral memes that compared her to a turkey.
She said on Instagram Live at the time: ‘All this s**t because after the VMAs, where I had on my cute little nude bodysuit, everyone started comparing me to a turkey and putting a turkey in my outfit.
‘I was just so skinny and pasty, and I was feeling so bad [about] myself that I did not wear a bikini for two years.’
In her recent issue with British Vogue this year, Miley addressed the scrutiny she faced during her early 20s.
‘I carried some guilt and shame around myself for years because of how much controversy and upset I really caused,’ she said.
‘Now that I’m an adult, I realize how harshly I was judged. I was harshly judged as a child by adults, and now, as an adult, I realize that I would never harshly judge a child.’
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