Couldn’t quite muster up enough excitement to stay up way past your bedtime and watch the VMAs live? We feel you.
Don’t panic, you don’t need to wait until the show is broadcast in the UK to find out what the heck went on. Here’s our recap of the most important stuff that went down.
1. Beyoncé turned up with the full cast of Lemonade
Including the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and Oscar Grant. The full cast walked the white carpet and attended the show (the mums were even spotted taking a selfie with Kim and Kanye).
2. Kanye filled his four minutes with a rambling rant
One minute Kanye was addressing serious debates about race and class. Then he listed the people who most inspire him ('Truman, Ford, Hughes, Disney, Jobs, West', if you were wondering). Then he called out Taylor Swift. Then he praised his wife for being cool with him shouting 'I see you, Amber' on stage. It was classic Kanye: moments of brilliance, but just an entertaining mess overall.
3. And debuted the music video for Fade, featuring Teyana Taylor.
It started out with some sexy dancing in the gym, then it got a bit weird. Teyana hopped in the shower and made out with her real-life fiancé Iman Shupert. Then her face turned into a cat face, the couple had a baby, and they were surrounded by sheep. End scene. We’re still trying to work out what it all means.
4. People weren't impressed with Key and Peele’s hosting abilities
This year’s VMAs didn’t have one official host, which definitely weakened the show’s former success in running gags and structured jokes. Key and Peele were the main, seated co-hosts, and relied on repeating the same joke about being social media obsessed millennials finding the perfect way to tweet about what they were seeing. It was tired after the first use of #TTT (that’s the tweet), and people noticed. Key and Peele are great at sketches, but this just didn’t work.
5. Beyoncé performed a mini version of Lemonade and it was incredible
Hey, just having Beyoncé performing on stage is enough to make us feel all the emotions. But throw in actual fire, an appearance from a baseball bat (used to smash in a camera, obviously), perfect choreography, and Beyoncé total absence of f***s to give about swearing on live TV? You’ve wrecked us. We may never recover from this truly iconic performance.
6. Britney returned to the VMAs stage after seven years away
And she nailed it, obviously.
7. Taylor Swift wasn’t there
It made total sense for Taylor Swift not to attend this year’s VMAs – she hadn’t been nominated for anything, after all, and all the Kimye drama may have made things a bit awkward. But Taylor has been such a key part of the VMAs for years. We missed her awkward dancing, and the expectation of her winning at least one award and acting really surprised about it. Her absence was noticed and it was strange.
8. Rihanna did multiple performances throughout the night
The presenters compared the VMAs to ‘an extended Rihanna gig with prize-givings in the middle’. Which is fair enough, actually. She managed to mix it up with a strong balance of her older stuff, – Diamonds, Don’t Stop the Music – her latest hits, and a few emotional ballads at the end. It was excellent. Well done, Rihanna.
9. There was a strong Olympics presence
The award for the best female video (won by Beyoncé for Hold Up) was presented by the U.S. gymnastics team (minus Gabby Douglas, who was sick), Michael Phelps spoke about his love for Future, and Jimmy Fallon did a snarky impression of Ryan Lochte.
10. And Rihanna rejected Drake live on stage
So, some background. Throughout the night, Drake had been notably absent from the VMAs. He was “stuck in traffic” when he was given the award for Best Hip Hop Video. We looked for him in the crowds during Rihanna’s performances and he wasn’t there. It was sad. Then, as Rihanna did her final performance, Drake appeared. He presented Rihanna with her Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, making a beautiful speech about how she’s been successful by staying true to who he is.
He also dropped in the fact that he’s been in love with Rihanna since he was 22 years old. As he went to hand Rihanna her award, he tried to turn the hug into a kiss. It could have been deeply romantic. But Rihanna was not having it. She moved his head to one side, magically dodged his lips, and told Drake off for trying it in the first place, telling him: “that wasn’t funny”. It was shameful for Drake, glorious for Rihanna. She refused to let him take away her moment. She is a boss.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.