It was the smooch seen around the world.
2003’s MTV VMAs brought with it an iconic tribute to Queen of Pop Madonna‘s game-changing 1984 ‘Like a Virgin’ performance by the time’s reigning pop princesses, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Dressed as two brides (in homage to Madge’s ‘Virgin’ era), the Queen dressed as a groom and led the teen pop sensations in a dance before landing a historic kiss.
Much to the chagrin of Aguilera (and her fans), her tongue twist with M wasn’t fully televised as cameramen cut to the audience to film reactions (namely of Spears’ then-recent ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake). As the ‘Baby One More Time’ songstress saw her name dominate press in the weeks to come it would take 15 years for her one-time rival (Aguilera) to admit she was bothered by the absence of press she received from the incident.
Now, she’s breaking her silence. Hear it inside:
Longtime fans of both singers know this isn’t the first time the ‘Beautiful’ performer has acknowledged her disappointment with MTV after the cut away. Shortly after the incident occurred, she took to press to call the occurrence ‘pathetic’ (skip to the 2:00 mark in the video below):