Megan Thee Stallion—the host of the 2024 MTV VMAs—paid homage to Britney Spears’ iconic 2001 VMAs “I’m a Slave 4 U” routine at New York’s UBS Arena on Sept. 11.

Megan Thee Stallion cosplays Britney Spears' 'Slave 4 U' style at VMAs 2024

It’s a hot girl summer, so you know Megan Thee Stallion is channeling the ultimate summer girl.

The “WAP” rapper—and the host of the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards—paid homage to Britney Spears during a segment that referenced several iconic Video Music Awards performances, including Britney’s rendition of “I’m a Slave 4 U” at the 2001 Video Music Awards.

The act went down in history, especially when Britney—wearing a skin-bearing look—danced around with an albino Burmese python. So of course, Megan had to appear with her very own snake. Although she was slightly less than excited about the experience.

“OK, OK! Stop the music, stop the music,” Megan yelled while looking extremely uncomfortable. “I’m just playing. Come get this snake. I don’t know this snake, this snake don’t know me.”

As the snake was removed, Megan let out a screaming, “Oh my god,” before introducing presenter Paris Hilton.

And much like Megan, Britney herself has talked about how stressed she was during her famous performance, saying how things changed when it was time for her to sing live, as opposed to when she was in rehearsal.

All I knew was to look down, because I felt if I looked up and caught its eye, it would kill me,” she recalled in her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me. “In my head I was saying, ‘Just perform, just use your legs and perform.’ But what nobody knows is that as I was singing, the snake brought its head right around to my face, right up to me, and started hissing at me.”

Megan Thee Stallion, 2024 VMAs, Snake

And the “Toxic” singer was incredibly stressed out by the moment, adding, “I was thinking, ‘Are you fucking serious right now? The fucking goddamn snake’s tongue is flicking out at me. Right. Now.’ Finally, I got to the part where I handed it back, thank God.”

Luckily, Megan’s snake-moment moment was a quick one, and definitely won’t be the only time she’ll prove she’s a savage tonight.

The 29-year-old is also on the lineup to give a show-stopping performance during the music event, along with Sabrina Carpenter, Camilla Cabello, Shawn Mendes, Chappell Roan and Halsey.

And to make the event even more special for Megan, she’s also up for five nominations on MTV’s big night in music. For one, she’ll face off against Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Charli XCX in the Song of the Summer category, where she earned a nod for her GloRilla collaboration “Wanna Be.” Plus, the MC’s “BOA” music video will compete for the Best Direction trophy.

Britney Spears, 2001 VMAs

Though this is Megan’s first time taking on hosting duties for the VMAs, it’s not her first rodeo as a host. In 2022, she took on the role on Saturday Night Live and she cohosted an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Of course, hosting the VMAs isn’t the only achievement Megan has to be proud of this year. In June, the “Savage” rapper released her third studio album, MEGAN, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart.

For Megan, the record was an opportunity to let fans dive deeper into her “personal interests and thoughts.”

“I wanted to touch on my love for all things anime, all things Southern, how much I like to have fun, and I wanted to be myself,” she told Billboard in an interview published Sept. 4. “I feel like I did that.”

Megan added, “A lot of people were expecting me to come on this album talking one way and I wanted to introduce myself—this version of myself that I am right now.”

Keep reading for all the best candid moments from the 2024 VMAs.