It’s that time of year again—the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). Returning on September 12, 2023 for its 39th year, the annual ceremony has produced many iconic moments, including and with a foam finger.
Although the viewer-voted accolades have had their fair share of show-stoppers, not every VMA appearance has been a crowd-pleaser—as One Direction discovered in 2013.
The band was booed by the audience while collecting the Song of the Summer award on stage at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, New York. The jibes were supposedly because their track “Best Song Ever” beat out bangers “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk and “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke.
![One Direction on Stage, VMAs 2013](https://i0.wp.com/regalrumination.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/one-direction-stage-vmas-2013.png?resize=1200%2C864)
Michael Loccisano/Filmmagic
However, one famous face had the group’s back. the social network formerly known as , Lady Gaga can be seen watching the scene from the audience, seemingly horrified by the crowd’s behavior.
“Are people booing them?” the stunned singer asks the person sitting next to her, before shaking her head in disgust.
The video then cuts to backstage, where Gaga—real name Stefani Germanotta—can be seen talking to band members Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson.
“You were awesome,” the star tells the boys. “I don’t know what I heard out there, but if I did hear what I heard out there, I just want to tell you that you deserve every bit of success that you have and don’t you dare let those people boo you.
“I wanna leave right now, I don’t wanna stay anymore,” the star continues. “Because I don’t want to be in a room where people will be like that.”
![Lady Gaga and One Direction, VMAs 2013](https://i0.wp.com/regalrumination.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/lady-gaga-one-direction-vmas-2013.png?resize=1200%2C798)
Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Since being shared, the resurfaced video has received almost 68,000 views.
“Remember when Lady Gaga defended One Direction at the 2013 #VMAs cause the audience was booing them?” the original poster wrote alongside the footage. “Queen of Kindness.”
The Song of the Summer award was a new category in 2013, with One Direction the first band to collect the accolade. Nine million fans voted for the group to win the award and they didn’t seem to take the hostile reaction to heart, appearing jovial in the clip with Gaga.
Voting for the 2023 awards is now open, with fans able to vote up to 10 times a day for their favorite stars on the VMA website.