Skip to main content

Wait, what? MTV Video Music Awards to honor Kanye West

My, how the tides have turned. Just six years after Kanye West’s infamous on-stage objections to Taylor Swift’s win for Best Female Video over Beyonce (“Beyonce had the best video of all time!”), the rapper/singer is being bestowed the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the very same ceremonies, reports Variety.

West will be in good company with prior recipients of the prestigious award, which include Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, and MJ himself. It’s considered the highest honor for these music video awards. But is West really deserving, or is MTV just afraid he might jump on stage and object if he doesn’t get it?

Recommended Videos

Related: Even Tinder can me made more beautiful by Kelly Clarkson’s voice

Not surprisingly, some fans are lobbying for Swift to present the award. Others are objecting to the very fact that he’s getting it in the first place. But jokes aside, West has had some pretty memorable VMA performances, including his hit song medley in 2004 that featured Chaka Khan and hot tracks like Jesus Walks, and his 2005 performance with Jamie Foxx of that year’s summer hit, Gold Digger.

But West is not known for humility, often decrying himself a god of sorts, for everything from fashion to music and producing. He’s also famously married to celebrity socialite (or whatever you might call her) Kim Kardashian, with whom he’s fathered a child, with another on the way.

Whether you believe West deserves the award or not, no doubt plenty of people will be tuning into the VMAs to see who introduces him, how he’s introduced, and to hear his likely un-humble (and live!) acceptance speech. Perhaps that’s what MTV was after all along by honoring the musician. Though its censors will likely be on edge.

MTV has already attracted plenty of attention to the VMAs by confirming that clothing-optional, tongue-hanging singer Miley Cyrus would be hosting this year. Confirmed performers thus far include Pharrell, Demi Lovato, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, A$AP Rocky, and more, including the first live televised performance of The Weeknd’s Can’t Feel My Face.

But forget the performances: Miley and Kanye together in a live broadcast? It’s bound to be a wrecking ball of a show.

The 2015 VMAs will air live on MTV on August 30 at 9 p.m.

Christine Persaud
Christine has decades of experience in trade and consumer journalism. While she started her career writing exclusively about…
3 underrated HBO Max movies you should watch this weekend (July 11-13)
A group of people stand in a line and look.

Last week marked the arrival of Sinners, which is in the running for the movie event of 2025. Ryan Coogler's vampiric horror stars Michael Jordan as twin brothers who return to their hometown to open a juke joint. The opening night transforms into a nightmare with the arrival of a supernatural creature with sinister intentions.

Sinners is now available to stream on the newly named HBO Max. Beyond Sinners, the streamer has an abundance of underrated movies waiting to be streamed. One of our picks is The Suicide Squad, James Gunn's first crack at a DC story. View all three selections below.

Read more
3 underrated Amazon Prime Video movies you should watch this weekend (July 11-13)
Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory.

Finding a movie to watch on a hot July weekend can be difficult, especially when you feel like you've watched everything obvious. If you're sick of scrolling through Amazon Prime Video and spending more time looking at titles than actually watching one, then we've got you covered.

We've pulled together a list of three underrated movies that are all available on Prime Video. While these movies might have made an impact upon their release, they aren't as well remembered as they should be. Here's why you should check them out.

Read more
This new movie will smash the weekend box office — watch the trailer
A photo of someone watching a movie in a theater.

Superman is all set to smash the weekend box office, with forecasts suggesting that the second reboot of the movie series will take between $115 million and $135 million in North America, Boxoffice Pro reports.

Opening globally on Friday (check out the trailer above), the movie, directed and co-written by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet as Superman, had a reported budget of $225 million, while marketing could reportedly add another $200 million or so to those costs.

Read more