Cyrus first performed " We Ca n't Stop " on '' Jimmy Kimmel Live ! '' on June 26 , 2013 and on '' Good Morning America '' the following day . In August 2013 , she became the subject of widespread media attention and public scrutiny following a controversial performance and duet with Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards at Barclays Center in New York City . The performance began with Cyrus performing " We Ca n't Stop " in bear-themed attire . Halfway through the act , Cyrus stripped down to a skin-colored two-piece outfit as Thicke joined her on state to perform " Blurred Lines " . Cyrus subsequently touched Thicke 's crotch area with a giant foam finger and twerked against his crotch . An article published in '' The Hollywood Reporter '' described the performance as " crass " and " reminiscent of a bad acid trip " . Media attention of the performance largely overshadowed the attention that was given to other major events of the night , such as the reunion of 'N Sync and performances by Lady Gaga and Katy Perry . The performance was described by '' XXL '' critic B. J. Steiner as a " trainwreck in the classic sense of the word as the audience reaction seemed to be a mix of confusion , dismay and horror in a cocktail of embarrassment " , while the BBC said Cyrus stole the show with a " raunchy performance " . The performance generated 306,100 tweets per minute on Twitter , breaking the record for the most tweeted-about event in the history of the social network ; the previous record , held by the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show featuring Beyoncé , generated 268,000 tweets per minute . According to '' Forbes '' , Cyrus ' performance resulted in a gain of over 213,000 Twitter followers , 226,000 likes on Facebook , and 90,000 downloads of her new promotional single , " Wrecking Ball " , within days of the controversial performance . This amounted to a total 112 % increase in Cyrus ' social media activity
2013 MTV Video Music Awards
2013 MTV Video Music Awards
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