Taylor Swift was one of the big winners at this week's 2015 MTV Video Music Awards and the watch group Parenting TV Council (PTC) praised her for being a "classy" and "brilliant" artist. But the same group has nothing great to say about the show's host, Miley Cyrus, and the VMAs in general.
Speaking with Gossip Cop, PTC president Tim Winter blasted MTV and Miley for its awards presentation.
"It was clear from the outset what MTV wanted. It was clear what Miley represented," Winter told the news outlet. "I don't think the promos did much more than validate our concerns."
PTC members were monitoring the awards show both in the east and west coast and counted plenty of references to drugs. "The ubiquitous messaging of drugs or drug use as something positive and something to laugh at is wholly inappropriate for people as young as 14. It's a gross violation of the spirit and the letter of the content-rating system."
Winter also noted that MTV and Miley missed out on bringing positive messages to its audience, saying, "rather than using her platform this year for something positive, we learned that she really likes marijuana."
In contrast, the PTC president had nothing but praises for Taylor Swift, who was not just a winner but also a presenter at the awards show. "She can touch on subjects that are controversial, but she does it in a way that are positive, insightful, and brilliant," said Winter in another Gossip Cop report. The young singer walked away with Video of The Year, Best Female Video and Best Pop Video that night.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the council is urging advertisers to reconsider supporting the VMAs. The group reportedly sent letters to 30 advertisers and only one has so far responded that it had no plans of buying airtime for the VMAs.
According to Deadline, the show's ratings were down from last year, with only 9.8 million viewers. In previous years, the MTV VMAs had an average of more than 10 million viewers.
Meanwhile, last night's big winners also included Bruno Mars for Best Male Video, Nicki Minaj for Best Hip-Hop Video and Fetty Wap for Artist to Watch. On the other hand, Kanye West received the Vanguard Award special honors.
The night was also marked by other controversies including Minaj reportedly throwing shades at Miley, according to the Los Angeles Times, and Rebel Wilson's stripper police jokes, which pissed off Twitter users, according to Mediate.
