Somewhere between Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” jiggling and Taylor Swift’s typically pedestrian pop performance was a pictorial tribute that was so bad, it actually caused offense.
Despite being an evening celebrating commercial music videos, the MTV VMAs never-the-less decided it should probably do something to mark the sudden passing of Robin Williams.
So it shoved together a 20-second slide show featuring random images of the star that looked not unlike a PowerPoint presentation cobbled together by a seven year old about 10 minutes prior to broadcast.
And their (lack of) effort didn’t go unnoticed. Many viewers took to Twitter to complain about the montage (scroll down to watch it in full):
That Robin Williams tribute was offensive. #VMA2014
Kevin McHale (@druidDUDE) August 25, 2014Trying to imagine the jokes Robin Williams would have cracked after watching that tribute. #VMAs
Esquire Magazine (@Esquiremag) August 25, 2014Did someone push the "Robin Williams tribute" button by mistake?
Tyler Glenn (@tylerinacoma) August 25, 2014That "tribute" to Robin Williams tells you everything you need to know about this show. It would have been less insulting to do nothing.
chad dukes (@chaddukes) August 25, 2014Let's just shove that Robin Williams tribute in between someone twerking and someone winning some award that doesn't matter - MTV
Tyler Glenn (@tylerinacoma) August 25, 2014Randomly showing photos of Robin Williams is a touching way to segue into your Tresemme product placement.
Carina MacKenzie (@cadlymack) August 25, 2014Someone at MTV needs to get fired for that Robin Williams BS.
Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) August 25, 2014robin williams deserved more than a 20 second slideshow
mel (@tomlimpson) August 25, 2014Perhaps even worse, they layered said montage over a particularly limp Coldplay soundtrack, that added an extra air of whimsical nonchalance to what should have been a touching tribute.
Williams was found dead on 11 August after he took his own life. He was 63.
His publicist confirmed that he had been suffering from “severe depression” after he was admitted to a rehabilitation clinic a month previously to continue to focus “on his sobriety”.
It later emerged that he had been in the early stages of Parkinson's disease.
A tribute to Williams will air at the Emmy Awards 2014 on 25 August. Hopefully they've reached outside the remit of ClipArt to create theirs.
