The 2016 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) is over, but spectators won’t be forgetting Jimmy Fallon’s parody of Ryan Lochte anytime soon. Beyoncé’s epic Lemonade performance will be up there too when viewers take a trip down VMAs memory lane.
In the show held at the Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, Rihanna received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. The Barbadian singer took the stage four times during the show, opening and closing the ceremony. Britney Spears also performed for the first time since her heavily-criticized show back in 2007.
Ahead of the gala, Adele’s ‘Hello’ was the most nominated video with seven categories, while Beyoncé led the nominations with eleven. Adele was next with eight. But much to the surprise of the public, Adele left empty handed as Beyoncé took eight awards.
However, far more amazing was the fact that Fallon, and not Kanye West, was the star in this year’s ceremony most controversial moment. However, Fallon’s impression generated laughs, instead of a chorus of boos like Kanye deservedly received in the 2009 show.
Fallon parodies Lochte’s Olympic scandal
Just before the winner for the Video of the Year award got announced, The Tonight Show host, Jimmy Fallon, showed up dressed as Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte. With his hair dyed and wearing a track jacket, just like Lochte, Fallon’s parody predictably centered around the swimmer’s recent Olympic scandal.
Lochte initially claimed to have been robbed at gunpoint in a Rio de Janeiro gas station along with three other members of the United States swim team. Afterward, security camera footage showed that the supposed armed robber were security guards of the gas station.
Testimonies confirmed the swimmers urinated outside the bathroom, and Lochte vandalized a framed poster. When the guards caught the Olympians in the act, Lochte and company tried to bribe them to make it all go away. They got arrested instead.
Phelps was amused
Even though Phelps was very surprised, he found Fallon’s impersonation too funny to miss it. He even filmed the segment with his phone. Fallon finished by saying that he couldn’t tell the audience who had the Best Video of the year even if there was a gun to his head.
It was a clear allusion to the fabricated story Lochte had told Brazilian police. The award for Video of the Year went to Beyoncé for ‘Formation,’ but the guards back in Rio would certainly disagree. For them, Lochte’s video footage was surely on par. Not every day they get to see a world famous athlete in such a bizarre situation.
Source: Entertainment Weekly