Upon arriving at the music hall, Madonna's tribute to MJ had ended, and the host, Russell Brand, took the stage to liven up the atmosphere with some politically charged jokes.
"Hey! Link, congrats on the successful performance."
Eminem greeted him as he returned to his seat in the audience.
"Thanks!"
Link replied with a light smile and took his seat next to Eminem.
Before coming to the award ceremony, he had thought he would be seated with Taylor, since they were a couple, and sitting together would make them a hotter topic when captured on camera.
However, the organizers knew how to create buzz better than he did.
MTV had arranged his seating in the midst of the East Coast hip-hop crowd.
In front of him were Jay-Z and Beyonce, to his right T.I., Rihanna, Kanye, and behind him sat 50 Cent, Drake, and a few others—enemies all, except for the neutral Eminem, by the look of it.
But there was some reasoning behind the organizers' arrangement.