Megan Thee Stallion’s comeback brought heat to MTV VMAs — on and offstage
Whether performing "Bongos" alongside Cardi B or chopping it up with Justin Timberlake, Megan Thee Stallion is clearly in her comeback era.
The 2023 MTV VMAs went down in Newark, New Jersey on Tuesday evening, and the annual award show was attended by a ton of famous faces causing quite the buzz, including Megan Thee Stallion, who hit the stage for the first-ever live performance of “Bongos” with Cardi B.
The rapper looked gorgeous when she hit the red carpet, stirring a frenzy in anticipation of her turn on the stage for the single that dropped just last week.
Before the explosive performance, a backstage video hit the web that appeared to show Meg having a heated exchange with Justin Timberlake, who reunited with his prolific boy band, *NSYNC, earlier in the night.
You can see it here, on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In the video, it appears that Timberlake and Joey Fatone pass Megan as she’s getting primped backstage, and her facial expression looks angry after the chat. While some folks were quick to assume the two were arguing (maybe we’re still mad about Janet?) it turns out they were having a pleasant conversation amid the backstage chaos.
Variety reports its backstage sources confirmed there was nothing but love between the artists, despite what it looked like on video.
“He said, ‘It’s so nice to meet you,’ and she said, ‘No, no, this don’t count, this don’t count. We gotta meet proper,’” the source told the outlet. “It was very cute.”
When Megan took the VMAs stage for the first-ever live performance of “Bongos,” she and Cardi B held nothing back. Both were beautiful in blue as they hit the stage. First, Cardi descended to the stage atop a giant disco ball, flanked by shirtless bongo players and surrounded by dancers who even enticed the “Bodak Yellow” rapper to bust a few moves. Next, Meg got on the mic to deliver her verse, while reminding us all she has knees of steel.
Stars like Ice Spice and Taylor Swift were going wild in the audience as the two linked arms before a high-energy dance break.
Watch the performance below:
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