If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Adam Levine called MTV out over what he thought was an MTV Video Music Awards snub for Childish Gambino, but it turns out the rapper was never overlooked in the first place.
“This year, Childish Gambino released one of the most impactful, thought provoking, and intelligent videos ever made,” Levine, 39, reportedly wrote in a now deleted post on Instagram Friday, August 3. “I’m sure he doesn’t care that he wasn’t nominated for a VMA because he’s cool as f—k and everything. But I care. Because I’m NOT that cool. And I still want MTV to mean something again. But it won’t. Ever. K bye.”
However, Childish Gambino (a.k.a. Donald Glover) was nominated for not one, but seven VMAS this year.
Upon realizing his error, Levine removed the Instagram post and posted a follow-up message on Twitter. “S—t. I don’t usually put my foot in my mouth. But this time, I did,” he tweeted. “’This is America’ actually was nominated for video of the year. I stand corrected. Bad Intell. So I guess MTV doesn’t suck quite as badly as I had originally thought.”
The Maroon 5 singer later amended his statement, deleting the earlier tweet and writing instead: “S—t. I don’t usually put my foot in my mouth. But this time, I did. ‘This is America’ actually WAS nominated for 7 VMAs. How I didn’t get the right info is beyond me. I stand corrected. I’m sorry MTV. Still hate you though. but mostly, I’m sorry.”
Childish Gambino was nominated for Video of the Year, Video With a Message, Best Cinematography, Best Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Choreography and Best Editing. Meanwhile, Maroon 5 received a nod in the Best Visual Effects category for their “Wait” music video.
The VMAs will air on MTV Monday, August 20, at 9 p.m. ET.
