On Sunday, September 12, Viacom aired the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) live at 8:00 p.m. Viacom also decided to air the VMAs on Nickelodeon, its children’s network. Nickelodeon was launched over 40 years ago as “the first cable channel for children,” but now many parents agree they can no longer trust the network. Since Nickelodeon’s target market is children, it is apparent that Viacom is grooming the next generation of MTV fans.
This year’s VMAs featured the following:
- Partially bleeped (but still recognizable) profanity
- Barely-there costumes,
- Highly sexualized choreography
- Madonna’s bare backside.
Megan Fox introduced her boyfriend, Machine Gun Kelly, as her future baby daddy while wearing a see-through, barely-there dress. Other than a very visible thong, Fox was basically naked.
Lil Nas X took home the top prize for video of the year. “First, I wanna say thank you to the gay agenda,” Lil Nas X shouted during his acceptance speech. “Let’s go, gay agenda!”
Lil Naz X also performed “Industry Baby” in a marching band motif before segueing into “Montero: Call Me by Your Name.” The second half of his performance was set up as the Montero State Prison with inmates wearing hot pink prison uniforms. The performance ended with a group of male backup dancers, with Lil Naz X in the jail shower wearing short, sparkly, hot pink shorts and highly sexualized choreography. The sexually explicit content on this program was inappropriate for anyone, especially children.
Let this be a wake-up call and reality check for parents everywhere.
Over the years, controversial topics such as drugs, alcohol, sex, vulgarity, and violence have been glorified during the VMAs. If that’s not enough, here are some brief examples of what has aired during the VMAs in the past:
- Last year’s VMAs featured barely-there costumes, highly sexualized choreography that included crotch-thrusting and light-up crotches.
- Year before last, Best New Artist Nominee Lizzo performed in front of a giant balloon designed to look like a woman’s buttocks in a red thong that rhythmically bounced up and down with the music.
- In 2003, Madonna shared a kiss on stage with both Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
- In 2013, Miley Cyrus twerked her way to notoriety.
It is appalling and irresponsible of Viacom and Nickelodeon to air this raunchy awards show on a children’s network. This practice must stop.
Sign our petition and urge Viacom to never air the VMAs on Nickelodeon again.
