In her opening monologue at the VMAs, Miley Cyrus made a few waves: she posed with audience members (including pop singer Rita Ora) in order to take history’s greatest selfie. Preceding that, Cyrus discussed her Instagram strategy in a taped sketch with The Mindy Project‘s Ike Barinholtz and Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s Andy Samberg; both of them advised her to put other aspects forward in the snap, which Cyrus didn’t obey.
See the Evolution of Miley Cyrus
Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus on Oct. 8, 1994 at Pyramid Arena in Memphis.Ron Galella, Ltd.—WireImage/Getty ImagesBilly Ray and Miley Cyrus in New York City on Feb. 9, 2006.Paul Hawthorne—Getty ImagesVanessa Hudgens and Miley Cyrus in Los Angeles on Apr. 30, 2006.Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty ImagesBilly Ray and Miley Cyrus at the 41st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 23, 2006.Kevin Winter—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus in Westwood, Calif., on July 17, 2006.Vince Bucci—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus as Hannah Montana in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana on Nov. 2, 2008.DisneyMiley Cyrus in New York City on Oct. 23, 2006.Peter Kramer—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus and Ashley Tisdale on MTV's TRL in New York City on June 20, 2006.Michael Loccisano—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus performs as Hannah Montana in Uniondale, N.Y., on Dec. 27, 2007.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus at the 80th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 24, 2008.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus and Dolly Parton in an episode of Disney's Hannah Montana on Dec. 7, 2007.Disney/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus celebrates her 16th birthday during the 2008 American Music Awards in Los Angeles on Nov. 23, 2008.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus and Taylor Swift perform onstage at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2009.John Shearer—WireImage/Getty ImagesBilly Ray and Miley Cyrus in the 2009 film Hannah Montana: The Movie.DisneyTish, Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 11, 2009.NBC/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 31, 2010.Larry Busacca—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus performs onstage during the 2009 Teen Choice Awards held at Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, Calif., on Aug. 9, 2009.Kevin Winter—Fox/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus and Sheryl Crow on stage at Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City on Sept. 17, 2009.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus performs at the 21st Annual MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto on June 20, 2010.George Pimentel—WireImage/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus at the 2009 VH1 Divas in New York City on Sept. 17, 2009.Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus and Justin Bieber perform at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Aug. 31, 2010.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus performs on an episode of ABC's Dancing with the Stars on May 2010.Adam Larkey—ABC/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth in the 2010 film The Last Song.Touchstone PicturesMiley and Tish Cyrus at The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 13, 2011.Lester Cohen—WireImage/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 11, 2012.Frazer Harrison—Getty ImagesLiam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus at the 2012 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Los Angeles on Feb. 26, 2012.Christopher Polk—VF/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 20, 2012.Denise Truscello—WireImage/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 6, 2012.Christopher Polk—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus performs during 2012 VH1 Divas in Los Angeles on Dec. 16, 2012.Kevin Winter—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus poses with fans in London on July 18, 2013.Ben Pruchnie—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus at the Fashion Group International's 30th annual "Night Of Stars" awards gala in New York City on Oct. 22, 2013. Evan Agostini—Invision/APMiley Cyrus performs on NBC's Today show on Oct. 7, 2013 in New York City.NBC/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus dances at Compound Entertainment and Malibu Red Grammy Midnight Brunch at Bagatelle/STK in Los Angeles on Feb. 9, 2013.Johnny Nunez—WireImage/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus attends the "PUNK: Chaos to Couture" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 6, 2013.Stephen Lovekin—FilmMagic/Getty Images Miley Cyrus arrives at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 19, 2013.Jon Kopaloff—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus attends Rachel Zoe during Fall 2013 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center in New York City on Feb. 13, 2013.Jamie McCarthy—WireImage/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus at the SiriusXM Studios in New York City on June 27, 2013.Slaven Vlasic—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards in New York City on Aug. 25, 2013.Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesRobin Thicke and Miley Cyrus perform during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards at Barclays Center in New York City on Aug. 25, 2013.Rick Diamond—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus performs at the 2013 American Music Awards in Los Angeles on Nov. 24, 2013.Christopher Polk—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus performs at the Time Square's New Year's Eve 2014 ball drop celebration in New York City on Dec. 31, 2013.Steve Mack—FilmMagic/Getty ImageMiley Cyrus at the 56th annual Grammy Awards Pre-Grammy Gala in Los Angeles on Jan. 25, 2014.Jeffrey Mayer—WireImage/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus performs during Miley Cyrus: MTV Unplugged in Los Angeles on Jan. 28, 2014.Christopher Polk—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus performs at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., on Aug. 1, 2014.Taylor Hill—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus and Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips perform in Los Angeles on Feb. 22, 2014.Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards in Inglewood, Calif., on Aug. 24, 2014. Mario Anzuoni—ReutersMiley Cyrus and My Friend's Place representative Jesse Helt at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards in Inglewood, Calif., on Aug. 24, 2014.Christopher Polk—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus walks with Jeremy Scott after a presentation of his Spring/Summer 2015 collection during New York Fashion Week on Sept. 10, 2014. Lucas Jackson—ReutersMiley Cyrus attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 4, 2015 .Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus performs onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 30, 2015 in Los Angeles.Michael Tran—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus hosts the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 30, 2015 in Los Angeles.Michael Tran—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus performs on Saturday Night Live in New York City on Oct. 3, 2015.Dana Edelson—Getty ImagesHonoree Miley Cyrus accepts the Vanguard Award at the Los Angeles LGBT Center 46th Anniversary Gala Vanguard Awards on Nov. 7, 2015 in Century City, Calif.Joe Scarnici—Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus on The Voice on Feb. 4, 2016. Trae Patton—Getty Images
The pop singer also referenced both of her parents’ presence in the audience, noting that if the VMAs were like a family celebration, there would be a fistfight before the end of the ceremony. We can only hope.
