The annual MTV Video Music Awards have been the backdrop of a number of the most iconic superstar moments in historical past.
And in 2003, it was on the VMAs stage that music legend Madonna and popstar Britney Spears locked lips in entrance of tens of millions – with fellow singer Christina Aguilera having fun with the identical therapy moments later.
The Like a Prayer singer was in the course of performing a medley of her best hits alongside her fellow pop comrades when she shocked the world by planting a passionate kiss on Spears.
You can watch the clip above.
READ MORE: Ugly fact behind Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner’s wedding ceremony picture
READ MORE: In 1994, this second between Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley shocked the world
Madonna had been singing her hit track Hollywood, with Spears and Aguilera wearing bridal-inspired costumes. For these watching at house, it was a “blink and you’ll miss it” event.
After kissing Spears, Madonna then moved onto Aguilera. But it was her steamy snog with the Toxic hitmaker that scandalised the world and nonetheless makes headlines to this very day.
Audiences will bear in mind the digital camera shortly panning to Spears’ ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake simply milliseconds after the kiss, his telling facial features additionally prompting a deluge of articles.
Madonna and Aguilera’s kiss was not broadcast to tv screens around the globe due to the minimize away to Timberlake.
READ MORE: Behind Marilyn Monroe’s well-known ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’ efficiency
Aguilera later recalled feeling “left out” that Spears and Madonna’s kiss was splashed throughout newspapers and her identify was hardly ever talked about.
“It was weird. And you know why they cut away for it? Because they cut away to get Justin [Timberlake’s] reaction,’ she said in a radio interview with SiriusXM in 2018.
“I undoubtedly noticed the newspaper the following day and it was like, ‘Oh, properly, I assume I acquired omitted of that’.”
It might have seemed like a spur of the moment decision on Madonna’s part, but as we discovered years later, it was actually a pre-planned stunt.
Spears’ manager Larry Rudolph told Billboard that Madonna orchestrated the performance – down to every last detail.
“Madonna had been very, very, very inflexible concerning the rehearsals,'” Rudolph revealed in 2014.
“She would by no means deal with me by identify; she would simply say, ‘You, be sure Britney’s right here tomorrow at 10 o’clock.'”
READ MORE: The heartbreaking story behind John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Rolling Stone cowl
And it appears the now 64-year-old was fairly happy with the response to her on-stage smooches.
“Once the efficiency was over, I occurred to be within the elevator at Radio City. She got here off the stage first, and she walked into the elevator… She got here proper as much as me,” he recalled.
“She put her arms round my waist. She gave me a giant kiss on the lips, and she mentioned, ‘You see, Larry, it was all value it.'”
It might need been twenty years in the past, however the provocateurs of popular culture nonetheless cannot cease speaking concerning the notorious kiss.
A photograph of the second, taken by photographer John Sherer, was even auctioned as an NFT in 2021.
READ MORE: The fact behind the notorious ‘Bimbo Summit’ entrance web page
In January 2023, throughout Jennifer Lopez’ press path for her film Shotgun Wedding, the actress claimed she was purported to carry out instead of Aguilera that night time.
Lopez revealed to E! News she was pressured to drag out of the VMAs that yr as a result of scheduling conflicts.
“I used to be filming a film in Canada and we had met – me, her and Britney to do it – at her house,” she explained. “And I simply could not get off the movie … so that they acquired Christina to do it.”
She added: “I really like Madonna. I’m an enormous fan. I at all times have been.”
And 19 years after their original on-stage make out session, Madonna and Spears decided to recreate that infamous moment at Spears’ 2022 wedding to Sam Asghari.
In a photo posted to social media, the stars locked lips once again – but this time it was all a bit of fun.
For a daily dose of 9Honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.
Actor reveals fact about Kanye West’s notorious VMAs act
Discussion about this post