MTV Avoided Similar Miley Cyrus Twerking Controversy: Parents Television Council Relieved With Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda' Performance
Even though Nicki Minaj was not holding anything back on her 2014 MTV Video Music Awards performance, her twerking performance on TV did not rouse parents' ire as Miley Cyrus's 2013 twerking did. While it was very memorable live and some would even say it bested Miley's, MTV reportedly did everything not to cause a ruckus among home viewers, especially the parents of the young fans.
Page Six reports that even though Nicki Minaj's VMAs performance is as racy as it could be, it did not warrant a "mature audiences" rating from the network. According to Page Six, even though the song's video featured Nicki in a thong and giving Drake a lap dance, the network made sure her live performance on VMAs would be shot in such a way that young fans and their parents at home would not feel affronted. As such, the show was rated TV-14. MTV made sure that camera angles were all done strategically to focus only on the rapper's upper body.
The network took a beating last year for Miley Cyrus' raunchy number with Robin Thicke, so MTV made sure it would not happen this time. Prior to the show, the Parents Television Council even sent a letter to the network stating what parents do not want to see in this year's show.
It seems parents are satisfied with MTV's strategic presenting of the said racy performance.
"It wasn't as racy as we were anticipating," shared Melissa Henson, director of the Parents Television Council. "What we were expecting to see was what was in the video - a guy up on the stage and her performing lap dances."
"Her costume was less revealing during the VMAs than it was in the music video. The elements were there, but the most offensive content was edited out. Whether Nicki Minaj had anything to do with that or MTV or network standards and practices, I don't know, but we were relieved to see that it wasn't as bad as it might have been," the director added.
It was a different thing altogether during the live performance however. According to Hollywood Life, Nicki Minaj's performance on August 24 is not easy to forget, just like Miley's 2013 peformance.