Machine Gun Kelly, who this past weekend took home the VMAs Moon Person for Best Alternative for the second year in a row, stopped by Seth Meyers’ Late Night on Monday to confirm a lineup-related rumor and to reflect on a wild day he and Pete Davidson once spent with Dave Chappelle.
Toward the start of the interview, MGK was asked about the small guitar-smashing injury he had sustained from the ceremony, which was actively bleeding at the time of their discussion and required a band-aid. According to MGK, the guitar-smashing at the end of his and Travis Barker’s Donda-referencing performance of “Papercuts” wasn’t part of the original plan.
“There could be a documentary about everything that happened backstage at the VMAs last night,” he said. “I wasn’t supposed to close out the show.” This confirms speculation which had been brought about by the fact that MGK and Barker were announced closer to the middle of the broadcast as being among the next to perform, only to not show up until the very end.
Around two minutes into the chat, MGK noted that he ran into Davidson and Chappelle later Sunday night. Davidson, a longtime friend and frequent collaborator of MGK’s, is set to make a cameo—as hinted at in the IG update below—in the upcoming Good Mourning With a U. The film is co-directed by MGK and Mod Sun.
“Funny story, that was the first time me, Pete, and Dave had been in the room since Dave flew me and Pete out to his house to smoke and then he sent us back because I had a show,” MGK told Meyers. Reflecting on this previously mentioned Ohio moment further, MGK recalled that he had informed Chappelle at the time that they were roughly five hours away from him if they took the trip via car. But Chappelle had other plans.
“He was like, ‘No worries! There’s a jet there waiting for you. You guys have to get on it,’” he said. “And we got on, we landed. He forgot it was his mom’s 81st birthday, as we all do. So he picks us up, we go there, and then—I don’t know if I can say all of it. … It certified Dave Chappelle as, like, the ultimate rockstar to me.”
To hear MGK tell it, 81-year-olds “go hard” when it comes to ringing in a birthday. Elsewhere on this fateful day, MGK said he and Davidson were introduced to Chappelle’s variety of “man caves” around the area.
“It was the most random night,” he said. “We end up at his house. His wife was, like, furious that we were still there like ‘Get these idiots outta here.’ So he’s like, ‘Alright, you guys gotta get back on the plane.’ So we get on the plane, go, and we do the concert. Then me, Pete, and my daughter decided to do an eight-hour road trip to New York to go to his mom’s house and then we spent Christmas at his mom’s house.”
See the full interview up top. MGK is currently out on the road for his Tickets to My Downfall-supporting tour, with the next stop set for Tuesday night in New York. Recently, he and Barker announced the title for their upcoming second album together, Born With Horns.
