Conor McGregor and multi-platinum recording artist Machine Gun Kelly nearly came to blows on the red carpet of the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.
According to a report obtained from PEOPLE Magazine, the heated altercation stemmed from Kelly’s representatives refusing McGregor’s request to take a photo with the Cleveland-based music artist. Then, as Kelly walked the red carpet with girlfriend Megan Fox, the situation escalated.
A video that captured a portion of the tense encounter was posted on Twitter Sunday evening and can be found below. If you look closely, you can see McGregor take a swing at Kelly with his cane about four seconds into the brief clip:
“Conor went in on it a little bit,” an eyewitness of the altercation revealed to PEOPLE Magazine. The source also corroborates the visual that McGregor began swinging his cane wildly in Kelly’s direction at one point.
Machine Gun Kelly’s representatives did not get into details on the story, but they did later dispute the PEOPLE report that the incident began with Kelly dismissing McGregor’s photo request.
McGregor’s team did not initially address the situation in any specific terms, but they later issued the following statement to MMA Fighting:
“Conor McGregor did not ask anyone for a picture, nor did he instigate this incident. He does not know Machine Gun Kelly, outside of the fact that he attended Conor’s fight this past July.”
There are conflicting reports about whether or not McGregor’s attempted attack was provoked or unprovoked, with a TMZ report stating that Kelly pushed McGregor first, which caused him to spill his drink.
McGregor was booked as a presenter during the awards show. Meanwhile, Kelly served as a performer and was also nominated for the “Best Alternative” award for his single entitled “My Ex’s Best Friend.”
The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards is taking place from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday, September 12, 2021, and began at 8 PM ET.
Below, you can find some additional photos of the VMA altercation between McGregor and Kelly.
What do you make of this wild story of Conor McGregor nearly attacking Machine Gun Kelly at the 2021 MTV VMAs?
