A teary Miley Cyrus let a homeless man accept her award for Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards.

  It was a stark contrast to her performance at last year's show, when the star infamously twerked and danced provocatively on stage.

As Cyrus looked on, the man said: "Thank y'all, my name is Jesse and I am accepting this award on behalf of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the United States who are starving, lost and scared for their lives right now.


Jesse accepts Miley Cyrus's award for video of the year

I know this because I am one of these people.

"Though I may have been invisible to you in the streets, I have a lot of the same dreams that brought many of you here tonight."
The singer's decision was reminiscent of Marlon Brando's 1973 Academy Awards best actor win, when he gave a Native American activist the stage rather than accept his award.

Cyrus and Thicke at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards

The video for her hit Wrecking Ball earned Cyrus the award.
The most shocking moment of the show at The Forum in Inglewood, California, was Nicki Minaj's rump-shaking during her performance of Anaconda and her wardrobe malfunction when she joined Ariana Grande and Jessie J for Bang, Bang.          
Grande kicked off the show with a performance of her hit, Break Free.

Ed Sheeran poses with his award

The 21-year-old won Best Pop Video for her smash single Problem, but lost Best Female Video to Katy Perry, who won for Dark Horse.
Taylor Swift also performed her new single Shake It Off in shimmery shorts and a crop top.
Lorde won Best Rock Video for Royals and Ed Sheeran won Best Male Video, beating Pharrell, Eminem, John Legend and Sam Smith, who provided one of the highlights of the night with his performance of Stay With Me.

Taylor Swift performs Shake It Off during the show

As well as the glitzy performances, the night featured a serious social message.
Rapper-actor Common held a moment of silence for Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old who was fatally shot by a police officer in Missouri, before he presented the award for best hip-hop video.
Beyonce closed the show with a nearly 20-minute medley of her songs.

Beyonce with Jay Z and daughter Ivy Blue after accepting her award

She was joined on stage by Jay-Z and Blue Ivy, which brought her to tears.
Beyonce sang and danced in a metallic leotard while her husband and daughter watched from their seats and declared: "MTV, welcome to my world."               

  As she accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award she kissed Blue Ivy and Jay-Z, who called her the "greatest living entertainer."