The VMAs are nothing without a good scandal. Britney Spears and Madonna delivered the goods in 2003 with their sultry kiss seen 'round the world. Madonna kissed Christina Aguilera not five seconds after the fact, but history acts like it never happened. That's life!
Drake, a glutton for humiliation, famously ruined Rihanna's Vanguard Award moment by making it all about himself. After a gushing speech that left both Rihanna and viewers cringing within an inch of their lives, the rapper tried to plant a kiss on her. Rihanna, of course, was not having it and curved him in the knick of time. Our takeaway: Get a job! Stay away from her!
Only Beyoncé would dance her ass off in front of an audience and end it with a pregnancy announcement. Always the overachiever, that Bey.
This one is a 2-for-1. Not only was Lil Kim's 1999 VMA outfit a defining moment in the award show's history, it led to one of its most absurd moments: Diana Ross gleefully bouncing the rapper's bejeweled breast.
It was the Sagittarius showdown of the year. After Miley spoke poorly of Nicki Minaj in the press prior to the 2015 VMAs, the rapper settled the score on stage. "And now back to..." began Minaj sweetly, before shifting gears and going in for the kill. "This bitch that had a lot to say about me the other day in the press. What's good Miley?" Don't come for the queen!
Eminem and an army of look-a-likes descending on New York City's Radio City Music Hall is the type of chaos that could only exist in the year 2000. The iconoclast rapper performed "The Real Slim Shady" in the most literal way possible and had all his pop culture nemesis (Carson Daly, I'm talking to you) sweating bullets in the audience.
This 2009 VMA moment created a domino effect of feuding that dragged across pop culture for the next decade. Imagine what the world would be like if Kanye West had never uttered the words, "Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you and Imma let you finish but..." Would we have known peace?