Is a Red Hot Chili Pepper in an adulterous relationship with the MTV VMAs? Well, yes, by his own admission. Before accepting their Global Icon Award, the band performed “Black Summer†from their 2022 album Unlimited Love and the 2002 banger “Can’t Stop.†“I did want to thank the sassy mistress known as MTV for supporting us for 1000 years or more,†Anthony Kiedis flirted in his acceptance speech for the 2022 Global Icon Award on August 28. “I also wanted to thank planet Earth and the people of planet Earth for listening and caring and paying attention to what we do. It’s a blessing.†Is the sassy mistress the Moon Person statue, the network itself, or the execs who keep nominating you? While we tried to wrap our heads around those mental images, Kiedis went on to thank his bandmates for damn well saving his life with some timely space imagery. Bandmate Flea — who’s currently rocking a Valentino pink buzz cut — made a different profession of love in his acceptance speech. “To everyone of you other there watching on TV and here: I love you,†he began. “I love cockroaches and dirt and trees and every human being and the ocean and the fish in it and deer and deer antlers and birds and sky and love. And everything that isn’t love is cowardice!†Drummer Chad Smith, for his part, dedicated the award to Taylor Hawkins, the late Foo Fighters drummer who died earlier this year at the age of 50. “I dedicate this to Taylor and his family,†Smith said. “I love them, and I miss him every day.†We love our earnest, honest Chili Peppers.