LINK Luckily for her, Britney Spears' lip-synching disaster is quickly being usurped as the VMAs primo water-cooler fodder.
Tommy Lee and Kid Rock battled it out at the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night, though neither of them was up for a Moon Man. The duo wound up coming to blows during the Las Vegas ceremony, a fight that ended with Lee getting kicked out of the show and Rock getting cited for misdemeanor battery.
And we thought Spears had a rough night.
The tussle kicked off during Alicia Keys' performance, while MTV's usually controversy-honed cameras were unfortunately otherwise engaged. It remains unclear what provoked the fisticuffs, though the punches flew shortly after both men's ex-wife, Pamela Anderson, appeared as a presenter on the show.
MTV veejay Sway did his best to give viewers a post-fight play-by-play at the VMA Post Show.
"Tommy Lee was sitting by Diddy," he said. "[Kid Rock] just walked up and decked him!"
Rap producer Rich Nice, who had a front-row seat to the melee, told the Associated Press that the Mötley Crüe drummer was the instigator of the fight, though it was the "Bawitdaba" singer who landed the only connecting punch.
"It looked like Tommy Lee initiated it because Kid Rock was ignoring him," he said. "And Tommy Lee kind of antagonized him. And then when Tommy Lee stood up, it looked a little weird, like, 'Yo, what?'
"When Tommy stands up is when Kid hit him the first time with a backhand," Nice told the wire service. "And then Tommy Lee looked like he was trying to get at him to aggressively retaliate and then Kid Rock hits Tommy Lee again—bong. And then security grabs Tommy Lee in a headlock and pulls him off."
After the fight, security allowed Kid Rock to remain in his seat for the remainder of the show, though Lee was thrown out of the ceremony and deposited in the hotel's main casino amid a throng of fans.
Prior to the fight, Rock helped Superbad's Seth Rogen and Bill Hader introduce the Best Viewer's Choice artists, appearing as one of the category's losers from years past. Lee's participation in the show, meanwhile, seemed to begin and end with seatfilling duties.
Rock was cited by Sin City's finest just after 10 p.m., when LVPD reported to the Palms Hotel and Casino.
"A little after 8 p.m. last night we received a call that a disturbance had occurred at the MTV Video Music Awards," the police said in a statement. "We had a lot of officers working in and around the awards so they got there fairly quickly. We determined that the altercation was between Kid Rock and Tommy Lee. After our investigation, Kid Rock did receive a citation for misdemeanor battery. Everyone involved was interviewed."
While the brawl was unfortunately not televised, plenty of mention was made of the battle throughout the remainder of the show, with the ceremony's hip-hop contingent seeming to take particular pleasure at their change in beef-holding position.
"We need to stop the violence in rock 'n' roll," Diddy said while announcing the evening's final performers, Justin Timberlake with Timbaland and Nelly Furtado—an announcement the rapper claimed he was supposed to be making with one of the tusslers. "I was supposed to be doing this with Kid Rock, but you know, we got to stop the violence. It's not just hip-hop artists that fight."
Jamie Foxx, who took to the stage with Jennifer Garner, also referenced the fight, imploring the audience to "stop all this white-on-white crime."
"Tommy Lee and Kid Rock fighting like black folks—it's hilarious," he said. "Who won? I was in the bathroom...Pamela Anderson has got a hard choice to make."
As does the Las Vegas police. Kid Rock could face up to six months in jail for his misdemeanor battery charge, though it's unlikely he'll do the time.
While the publicity stemming from his battle royale may not do him any personal favors, professionally, it can't hurt. His first new album in three years, Rock and Roll Jesus, is due out Oct. 9.
