One year after her twerkfest defined the 2013 VMAs, Miley Cyrus stole the show at the VMAs once again.
After winning the night’s biggest award, Miley sent up her mystery date to accept the Video of the Year Award for “Wrecking Ball.”
But instead of patting the industry on its back or even thanking Miley’s fans, the young man, Jesse, took his time in the spotlight to draw attention to an underreported, everyday tragedy in the United States.
Jesse called attention to the 1.6 million runaway and homeless children and teens in America and admitted that he himself was part of that unseen crowd. “I’ve been an extra in your movies, I’ve been an extra in your lives,” he said to the mostly uber-rich crowd. “Los Angeles has the largest population of homeless youth in America.”
Miley, watching him while sitting next to Katy Perry and Riff Raff, smiled while her eyes filled with tears.
Jesse ended his speech with a John Lennon/Yoko Ono quote: “A dream you dream alone is only a dream, but a dream we dream together is reality.” Watch it below.
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It was a selfless, totally unexpected move from Cyrus — there’s no way anyone could have predicted she’d forego her speech to give a voice to homeless, disenfranchised youth in America. You can find out more about it on her Facebook page.
While Miley’s received plenty of Madonna comparisons in her last year, it seems Marlon Brando — who gave up his 1973 Oscar acceptance speech in favor of allowing Sacheen Littlefeather to speak out against Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans — might be her latest inspiration.