The ratings are in for the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), and they are at a new record low.
The Wrap reports that the VMAs’ ratings on simulcast among the 18-49 demographic slipped 6 percent. When the numbers are narrowed down to total viewers on MTV alone, there was a 15 percent drop off. For the all-important 18-49 audience, there was a drop of 21 percent.
These numbers come after the VMAs got political once again. Comedian Kevin Hart went after President Trump, telling him to “suck it.”
“You never know what’s going to happen at the VMAs. Bad language, people run to the bathroom and send out crazy tweets. It’s basically like a typical day at the White House. In your face, Trump! Suck it!” Hart joked.
Hart also attacked critics of NFL players kneeling during the anthem, saying, “We are live coast-to-coast, people. I’m looking at this like it’s game day. But do not worry. For this game, you’re allowed to kneel. You can do whatever the hell you want. There’s no old white man who can stop you.”
During a political performance, rapper Logic, donning a shirt that read “Fuck The Wall,” invited immigrant families from activist groups to come on stage and be “reunited” while wearing shirts that read “We are all human beings.”
The politicized jokes and performance occurred on the same night that MTV launched its first ever voter registration drive.