Will Smith and his family's seemingly stunned reactions to Miley Cyrus' MTV Video Music Awards performance became the talk of Twitter Sunday night. But it turns out it was all one big Internet gaffe.
Cyrus performed a twerk-t... rendition of her summer hit "We Can't Stop" onstage in Brooklyn Aug. 25. The set was raunchy and likely left many questioning just who the former Disney starlet has become. (Who ever could have predicted she would be grinding on Alan Thicke's son one day?)
During the act, Twitter exploded with commentary about the performance. One topic that gained major traction was a photo of Smith and his kids, Jaden...g to Cyrus. Their faces of shock and horror appeared to say it all.
The image was picked up and shared by outlets like Buzzfeed, Us Weekly, Business Insider and Yahoo! News. However, it turns out the Smiths weren't reacting to Cyrus at all.
The MTV audience cam, which was focused on the crowd all night, shows the Smiths were actually reacting to Lady Gaga's opening performance of "Applause." A look back at the feed also shows they weren't even too shocked by the 27-year-old pop star's scantily glad dance. Jaden's confused look was just some intense concentration. Willow's open mouth was caused by her gum chewing. What looked like a gasp was actually just a nose scratch.
Still, there were definitely some noteworthy reactions to Cyrus' performance. Rihanna and One Direction... impressed.
The Huffington Post | By Cavan Sieczkowski Posted: 08/26/2013 9:34 am EDT | Updated: 08/26/2013 4:55 pm EDT