But it was the outrageous Cohen, promoting his upcoming movie "Bruno" in which the British actor plays a gay Austrian fashionista, who brought the house down.
Sweeping high above the studio on a harness, Cohen hit an obstacle, spun down toward the audience and landed face down in the lap of Eminem, exposing his naked bottom to both the white rapper and to millions of viewers watching the awards show live on television.
MTV said Eminem stormed out "in a heated rage" after the incident at the Gibson Amphitheatre near Los Angeles where the live awards show was taking place.