Miley Cyrus' scandalous performance at Sunday's Video Music Awards managed to scar many viewers. While those of us watching from home felt the need for a cold shower afterwards, we could only imagine the level of shock amongst the celeb-filled audience.
Luckily for us, the VMA All Access cameras positioned throughout the Barclays Center captured every gasp and twerk-triggered wince, like this reaction from Will Smith and family:
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yyyoo look at Will Smith's family reaction to Miley!! pic.twitter.com/GlO320EmDB— Nancy Drew (@chi_chibaby) August 26, 2013
It turns out that the viral image -- which so aptly captured how viewers felt -- wasn't a reaction to Miley's performance at all. According to MTV, cameras snapped the shot during Lady Gaga's show-opening performance of "Applause."
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It also seems as though the Smiths' shock was exaggerated by the snapshot. The popular GIFs and photos simply caught Will and Willow with their mouths open because they were chewing gum. (This doesn't explain Jaden's pained expression, though. Maybe he just needs glasses.)
Image: Vulture
The lesson here is clearly that we should all learn to chew gum with our mouths closed.
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