Bad Bunny made history at the MTV Video Music Awards with his Artist of the Year win tonight (Aug. 28). But that’s not all — the Puerto Rican superstar also had one of the evening’s most talked-about performances after exchanging some kisses.
First, Bad Bunny was up for the Artist of the Year category with other big names, including Drake, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, and Lizzo. The award ultimately went to the “Tití Me Preguntó” singer, who reportedly made history as the first non-English language artist to win in that category.
Benito received and accepted the award on-stage during night two of his sold-out concerts at Yankee Stadium in New York City. Ten-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony presented him with the award. For this special moment, Bad Bunny opted to give his acceptance speech in Spanish. “I said one day I would be one of the biggest artists in the world without having to change my culture, my language,” he said. “Yo soy Benito Antonio Martínez de Puerto Rico ‘pal mundo entero.”
After accepting the award, Bad Bunny sang his hit “Tití Me Preguntó” for the MTV VMAs telecast. During the performance, he pulled an MTV VMAs 2003 moment à la Madonna and Britney Spears when he kissed his male backup dancer. But that wasn’t his only exchange during the performance, as Benito also kissed a female backup dancer.
After both kisses, fans took to social media to mention the similarity of this kiss — bringing them back to 2003. Could this have been a homage? As we saw in the “Neverita” video, he is one to be inspired by the work of iconic music moments.
Fans also brought attention to the significance of this moment within Latinidad, with one fan speculating that Bad Bunny might be making a statement on machismo. “People now saying Benito is Bi… Bad Bunny just trying to normalize being whatever the hell you want in a machista culture & capitalizing on the fact that millions of people were watching in that moment.”
We shouldn’t expect the buzz to slow down anytime soon for Benito. His blockbuster Un Verano Sin Ti album secured an eighth week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart this week. Additionally, his World Hottest Tour is selling out stadiums across the U.S. as he continues to also drop new music videos.
