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Madonna, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera's iconic 2003 MTV Video Music Award performance almost didn't happen. Well, at least, not the way it ended up playing out on stage — according to Jennifer Lopez.
On Tuesday, J.Lo revealed that the infamous award show moment was actually supposed to include her (rather than Xtina) during an interview with E! News to promote her upcoming movie Shotgun Wedding. "I was filming a movie in Canada, and we had met — me, her [Madonna], and Britney — to do it at her home," Lopez said. "And then, I just couldn't get off the film, and so, we couldn't do it." She continued, "They got Christina Aguilera, I think, to do it, and I didn't wind up doing it."
J.Lo added, "I love Madonna. I'm a huge fan. I always have been."
Aguilera ended up filling in for Lopez and shared an open-mouth kiss with Madonna on-stage while dressed in white lacy lingerie during their performance of "Like a Virgin," "Hollywood," and "Work It" with special guest Missy Elliot.
Two decades later, Christina opened up about the headline-making moment while chatting with Apple Music's Zane Lowe in 2020. "Shock value gets more and more extreme or whatever. But honestly, at the time, yeah, I never thought anything of it," she said. "It was like, 'OK, it's two girls kissing.'"
"It wasn't shocking back then. It's not shocking now, to me," Aguilera continued. "But it's so many things."
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