Banner reading 'The Divine Miss M' with red-script 'Bette Midler' beside a black?and?white portrait of Bette Midler with red lips on the right.

40 Years Ago Today The MTV VMA’s Were Born

A “self-promotional orgy,” an “incestuous affair … ranking right up there with your average yawn,” “little more than splashy self-aggrandizement,”…