Eminem fans were left scratching their heads during his opening performance at the Music Video Awards as he sang a duet with country star Jelly Roll

MTV VMA fans were left scratching their heads as Eminem took the stage for his duet with Jelly Roll only for the country star to only appear on a televised screen.

During the highly anticipated award ceremony, viewers were left disappointed as Jelly Roll failed to join legendary rapper Eminem on the physical stage during his performance in New York. Eminem opened the night with some of his famous chart-topping hits followed by his emotional song the ‘Somebody Save Me’ featuring Jelly Roll.

And while many hoped that Jelly Roll would make a special apperance at the ceremony, only pre-recorded footage of the star appeared as he sang the heartbreaking song in front of a moon. Despite Jelly Roll currently being on tour, many thought that he would make an exception for one of the biggest nights in music.

During the performance viewers took to X, formerly Twitter, sharing their confusion and sadness when Jelly Roll didn’t make it for the VMAs. One fan wrote: “Who else was hoping @JellyRoll615 was going to come out on stage with @Eminem?” And another added: “Jelly Roll couldn’t even be there to perform this?” And a third complained: “WWE got Jelly Roll to show up in person to SummerSlam and swing a steel chair, but MTV only got him via pre-taped video.”

Eminem took to the stage at the MTV VMAs

But despite the unexpected shake-up many fans – including Taylor Swift – loved the performance. In the crowd, the famous pop star was seen singing and swaying along to the music while fans took to X gushing over the talented pair. One supporter penned: “Love that Eminem featured Jelly Roll.”

And another added: “jelly roll might one of the most underrated and under appreciated country artists of this time.” While another chimed in: “Not me sobbing over and Eminem and Jelly Roll collab.” And someone else agreed: “This jelly roll emenim mashup is actually everything.”

Taylor Swift was seen dancing along during Eminem and Jelly Roll’s performance

The VMA Awards are currently airing on MTV. The initial date was supposed to be on September 10, but the awards were pushed to the next day after Donald Trump agreed to debate Kamala Harris after she became the – at the time – unofficial candidate for the Democratic party. Since the debate was scheduled for September 10, MTV decided to push the awards back to the following day – September 11.

Megan Thee Stallion is hosting the awards ceremony. The rapper has five VMA nominations herself. Additionally, she will be performing during the ceremony. Megan made waves when she performed her diss track HISS at the BET Awards in June. It’s rumored that the song hit out at Nicki Minaj due to the line about “Megan’s Law.” This law requires information on sex offenders to be made available to the public, and Nicki’s husband Kenneth Perry is a registered sex offender.