Adam Levine Apologizes After Going Off On VMAs About Childish Gambino

Adam Levine "Girls Like You" Music Video/Donald Glover "This is America" Music Video

Adam Levine made a goof. Now, he's apologizing for it. On social media the other day, the Maroon 5 frontman was ranting and raving about the VMAs and the awards show's dismissal of Childish Gambino's excellent music video for "This is America." He considers it one of the most impactful and relevant music videos ever made, and he was infuriated that the VMAs didn't nominate it for Video of the Year. Well, as it turns out, the MTV awards show did, in fact, nominate the acclaimed video. Several times, in fact. And Adam Levine is left with a big splatter of egg on his face. Now, the embarrassed musician has returned to social media to apologize for his oversight. Because hey, we all make mistakes, right? Here's what Adam Levine said in his video apology to the Video Music Awards.

Alright, I fucked up. So, here's what happened: Yesterday I was running around like a maniac, trying to leave town, packing, going a mile a minute, and I guess it had come up at the VMAs, 'Girls Like You' -- which is our song -- isn't up for a VMA. Big shocker. It doesn't surprise me. They always blow us off. And then, of course, I'm like, 'Well, Childish Gambino made the best video of the year. I bet you he's not nominated.' I guess, for some reason, I like Googled something and it looked like.... Look, I fucked up. There's no way around it. But, basically, he was nominated -- like, seven times over -- and I look like a moron. But, I'm just going to come out here and say, 'I fucked up. My bad.' Sorry, MTV. You did good. Now, make sure he wins.

There's nothing more refreshing than honesty. As Adam Levine admits in the Instagram video, he was running around and not paying too much attention to the news when the VMA nominations were announced, and when he heard that his music video, the cameo-filled "Girls Like You," didn't make the cut, he also thought he saw Childish Gambino didn't make it either for "This is America," which Levine considers the best music video of the year. Well, the frontman didn't do his research before he presented his paper to the class, and he made himself look like a bit of a doofus. Sure enough, Levine learned his lesson and the singer apologized to MTV for putting them on blast for absolutely no reason.

In addition to the Donald Glover-oriented apology video, Adam Levine also went to Twitter to respond to the mistake he made. He was a little harsher toward MTV there.

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Childish Gambino's music video was nominated in the following categories: Video of the Year, Video with a Message, Best Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Choreography and Best Editing. While Adam Levine is a little miffed that Maroon 5's music video for "Girls Like You" didn't make the list, he's hoping the MTV awards show will make up for it by recognizing what he and many other people consider the best music video of the year, as well as one of the most monumental music videos in history. While Donald Glover has received no shortage of attention for this haunting music video, Adam Levine hopes the VMAs give him the awards he feels Childish Gambino is due. While he is embarrassed by his mistakes, Levine is happy that Childish Gambino was recognized, at least, for his impressive accomplishments. You can consider Levine a big fan of his work.

Whether or not Childish Gambino wins will be determined by the VMAs themselves when the awards show takes place on August 20th at 9 p.m. ET, only on MTV.

Will Ashton

Will is an entertainment writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. His writing can also be found in The Playlist, Cut Print Film, We Got This Covered, The Young Folks, Slate and other outlets. He also co-hosts the weekly film/TV podcast Cinemaholics with Jon Negroni and he likes to think he's a professional Garfield enthusiast.