Christina Aguilera spoke about what it was like to be 'left out' of that iconic Madonna and Britney Spears kiss

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By VT

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Cast your mind back to 2003, and you'll probably remember the first time you saw Finding Nemo (yes, it's that old), watching film after film that starred Hilary Duff and playing snake on your Nokia 3200. Oh, and the day that marked the 2003 MTV VMAs will instead be known as the day that Britney Spears and Madonna kissed.

But perhaps what you don't recall about that moment in history was the fact that Christina Aguilera, who was onstage performing with the other two, also got in on the action. Yes, Christina also smooched Madonna while the three performers were on the stage at the time.

So why is it that the kiss that Britney and Madonna shared is so much more famous? Well, it's thanks to the team of people sitting behind computers who cut together the footage from the evening. Yes, the editors chose to cut away to Justin Timberlake instead of showing Madonna turning to Christina and landing a kiss on the lips from her as well.

madonna christina aguilera britney spears kiss vmas
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]

Justin and Britney had long been an item - the double-denim 90s dream team, some would say - and they split up barely a year before the VMAs took place. So it seems that some exec somewhere thought it would be juicier to get a reaction shot from Britney's ex, rather than rolling on to capture the other kiss on stage.

And how did Christina feel about it all? Well, she's finally revealed all. In an interview with Andy Cohen on his SiriusXM show, Radio Andy, Christina spoke about the infamous kiss that took place more than 15 years ago. And it's safe to say she's a liiitle annoyed about it still.

“It was weird," she said. "And you know why they cut away for it? They cut away to get Justin's reaction. It was a 'Justin's reaction' shot."

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8LzEGHtn-0]]

She went so far as to call the editing a “cheap shot.” Yikes.

Andy, who was actually in the audience to watch the moment live at the time, said: "That's annoying to me, because I don't think people totally realize she made out with both of you that day."

It was only the next day when the Dirrty singer saw the coverage of the event that she realised that her kiss with Madonna was cut out of the broadcast.

"I definitely saw the newspaper the next day and it was like, ‘Oh, well I guess I got left out of that one’," Christina recalled.

But when Andy asked her if she was upset that Britney got all the attention for the kiss, she replied that she had her own "kick-a**" performance that night.

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDiGnAhtLi4]]

"I had my own performance that night," she said, "it was 'Fighter' with Dave Navarro, and it was a kick-a** performance, so she can have that."

In the past, Christina has thrown shade at Britney for the kiss. She said Britney only agreed to do the Madonna kiss because she "needed a gimmick," as per an old interview with Blender.

Maybe she was still bitter about the JT cutaway because if the kiss was a gimmick for Britney, what was it for you, Xtina?

Christina Aguilera spoke about what it was like to be 'left out' of that iconic Madonna and Britney Spears kiss

vt-author-image

By VT

Article saved!Article saved!

Cast your mind back to 2003, and you'll probably remember the first time you saw Finding Nemo (yes, it's that old), watching film after film that starred Hilary Duff and playing snake on your Nokia 3200. Oh, and the day that marked the 2003 MTV VMAs will instead be known as the day that Britney Spears and Madonna kissed.

But perhaps what you don't recall about that moment in history was the fact that Christina Aguilera, who was onstage performing with the other two, also got in on the action. Yes, Christina also smooched Madonna while the three performers were on the stage at the time.

So why is it that the kiss that Britney and Madonna shared is so much more famous? Well, it's thanks to the team of people sitting behind computers who cut together the footage from the evening. Yes, the editors chose to cut away to Justin Timberlake instead of showing Madonna turning to Christina and landing a kiss on the lips from her as well.

madonna christina aguilera britney spears kiss vmas
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]

Justin and Britney had long been an item - the double-denim 90s dream team, some would say - and they split up barely a year before the VMAs took place. So it seems that some exec somewhere thought it would be juicier to get a reaction shot from Britney's ex, rather than rolling on to capture the other kiss on stage.

And how did Christina feel about it all? Well, she's finally revealed all. In an interview with Andy Cohen on his SiriusXM show, Radio Andy, Christina spoke about the infamous kiss that took place more than 15 years ago. And it's safe to say she's a liiitle annoyed about it still.

“It was weird," she said. "And you know why they cut away for it? They cut away to get Justin's reaction. It was a 'Justin's reaction' shot."

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8LzEGHtn-0]]

She went so far as to call the editing a “cheap shot.” Yikes.

Andy, who was actually in the audience to watch the moment live at the time, said: "That's annoying to me, because I don't think people totally realize she made out with both of you that day."

It was only the next day when the Dirrty singer saw the coverage of the event that she realised that her kiss with Madonna was cut out of the broadcast.

"I definitely saw the newspaper the next day and it was like, ‘Oh, well I guess I got left out of that one’," Christina recalled.

But when Andy asked her if she was upset that Britney got all the attention for the kiss, she replied that she had her own "kick-a**" performance that night.

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDiGnAhtLi4]]

"I had my own performance that night," she said, "it was 'Fighter' with Dave Navarro, and it was a kick-a** performance, so she can have that."

In the past, Christina has thrown shade at Britney for the kiss. She said Britney only agreed to do the Madonna kiss because she "needed a gimmick," as per an old interview with Blender.

Maybe she was still bitter about the JT cutaway because if the kiss was a gimmick for Britney, what was it for you, Xtina?