The year was 2013. We knew where that one Malaysia Airlines plane was. Donald Trump was still that guy from The Apprentice. “Dark Brandon” “rizz” and “ozempic” were mere twinkles in some raccoon dog’s eye.


Former Disney darling Miley Cyrus was set to take the stage at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, performing her hit singles “We Can’t Stop” and “Blurred Lines,” the other (weirdly creepy and kinda plagiarized) song of the summer, before an audience of celebrities and roughly 10.1 million viewers at home.



Yet, over the course of her roughly four-minute performance, Cyrus found herself embroiled in several controversies, sparking from her skin-tight latex outfit, seductively caressing her body with a foam finger, and twerking on Robin Thicke.


Sparking a maximum of 306,100 tweets each minute, Cyrus and Thicke’s performance shocked fans, even eliciting a reply from the Parents Television Council, a group that boasted the teen singer’s dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, on its advisory board.



"MTV continues to sexually exploit young women by promoting acts that incorporate 'twerking' in a nude-colored bikini," they said in a statement, asking "how is this image of former child star Miley Cyrus appropriate for 14-year-olds?"


Cyrus and Thicke, however, were prepared for the backlash, a sentiment Cyrus reiterated four years later in 2017.


"Me and Robin, the whole time said, 'You know we're about to make history right now,'" she said of her divisive performance. "What's amazing is I think now ... people are still talking about it. They're overthinking it."


From dancing with Miley (doin’ whatever we want!) to learning Britney Spears (allegedly) cheated on Justin Timberlake via music video and Kanye West’s award show with Taylor Swift, here are some of Twitter’s favorite pop culture moments.