This year's VMAs were certainly not short on drama, to put it lightly. Justin Bieber straight up started crying after his performance [1] of "What Do You Mean?," Nicki Minaj had her sights set on Miley Cyrus [2], and Kanye West [3] sort of ripped the industry a new one [4]. And that's just the tip of the iceberg! Seeing as there was plenty of shade thrown over the course of the night — some of it lighthearted, some of it sloppy, and some of it expert — we're ranking the best examples, for your benefit. Keep reading to spill the tea.
Absolutely Zero Shade
- The Situation: Nicki Minaj took to the stage to accept the award for best hip-hop video. Then she called out Miley Cyrus [5] for saying she's "not too kind." [6]
- The Verdict: This is not shade. It's not shade because Nicki wanted Miley to know she was coming for her, so much so that she directly addressed her. Shade is subtle. This is practically a low-key bloodbath.
In-Your-Face, Not-Even-Sorry Shade
- The Situation: After Nicki Minaj called out Miley in front of everyone [7], Miley plugged the artist to watch award, which was still open to votes.
- The Verdict: While Miley couldn't do anything about Nicki's decision to come for her, she could take another jab at Nicki's tweets about the nomination. It's a little blatant for shade, yes, but can't you totally see this as a perfect subtweet on Twitter?
Undetectable, Up-to-Interpretation Shade
- The Situation: Immediately after her aggressive shout-out to Miley Cyrus [8], Nicki Minaj left the stage and tweeted this.
- The Verdict: You might be thinking, "There's no way this is shade!" And if you are, you don't know Nicki. This could have a number of translations, but we're going to go with: "I am so amused with myself because I just dragged Miley Cyrus in front of everyone." We'll never know for sure, though. That's why it's expert shade.
Lighthearted Shade
- The Situation: Miley Cyrus [9] introduced presenter Britney Spears [10] as her "emergency contact" and "someone who always picks up" when she calls. Britney answered with this.
- The Verdict: This can definitely be considered shade, but it was also a scripted joke that Miley was in on. So, we'd say it's pretty harmless.
Definite Shade, and Not Very Subtle
- The Situation: Miley Cyrus [11] was tossing over to Hailee Steinfeld, who was slated to introduce Demi Lovato [12]'s "Cool For the Summer" performance. This is how Miley did it.
- The Verdict: Some of the best shade is hard to detect, but this shade is relatively obvious. It's easy to see Hailee is not the embodiment of "turnt," and if you have Twitter quoting you almost immediately, you know you could've been a little more covert.
Possible Shade, but Hard to Confirm
- The Situation: Nicki Minaj won for best hip-hop video, and she completely ignored Taylor Swift [13] (and everyone else) as she sashayed to the stage to accept her award.
- The Verdict: Maybe Nicki was just relishing the moment, or in the zone, or just trying not to trip in her dress. But after her Twitter debacle with Tay [14] and their big reconciliation during the opening [15], it's kind of funny that Nicki walked right on by without even a glance.
Maybe It's Shade, Maybe It's Not (but It Probably Is)
- The Situation: Taylor Swift [16]'s "Blank Space" won for best pop video, and Kanye West [17] really resisted repeating history [18]. Eventually, though, he decided to take a nap.
- The Verdict: This shade is amazing, because it's a double whammy. The first punch was Kanye insinuating that Taylor didn't deserve the award (again) and that Kanye was going to set things right (again). The second punch came when he decided taking a nap was a higher priority.
Shady, and Maybe a Little Rude
- The Situation: Miley Cyrus [19] introduced Jared Leto [20] as Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman, an Oscar-winning actor, the Joker in Suicide Squad, and . . . a woman?
- The Verdict: The shade — another joke, of course — was totally unnecessary, kind of out of nowhere, and borderline nonsensical. But also, it was pretty mean, right?
Meta-Shade
- The Situation: Kanye West [21] took the stage to accept his Video Vanguard Award and made an intense speech [22] about how messed up award shows are.
- The Verdict: This is so genius. Kanye goes to accept an award, at an award show. He then talks about how awards and award shows wrongfully pit artists against each other, and how it's just all about the drama and the ratings. He was going in on MTV . . . at MTV's award show. Oh, and he never did say thank you for that moonman.
Little-to-No Shade
- The Situation: Kanye West [23] gave an intense speech about the entertainment industry [24] and mentioned how Justin Timberlake [25] had tears in his eyes after he lost at the Grammys in 2007.
- The Verdict: While this tweet on its own is pretty shady and sort of undermines Kanye's entire diatribe, Justin quickly clarified [26] that he was joking. He also tweeted again [27], saying he supports the speech. We're still giving just a little bit of side-eye, though.
Amazing, Unabashed Shade
- The Situation: Miley Cyrus [28] mentioned The Weeknd during her introduction, and he made this face.
- The Verdict: There's something so beautiful about this face, because you can tell he's just so done.