Despite the controversy — or perhaps because of it — Russell Brand says MTV has already invited him back to host next year's Video Music Awards.
“MTV told me they want me to do it again," he told the Sun. "Afterward they were really thrilled. There was a 20 percent increase in viewers from last year’s show and, wow, isn’t life exciting.”
"American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks was so riled up by Brand's jokes about stars who wear rings promising to remain virgins until marriage that she got on stage and defended young stars who choose to wait, saying, "It's not bad to wear a promise ring because not everybody, guy or girl, wants to be a slut."
"It was a split-second decision," she told "Hannity and Colmes" on Wednesday.
But even though he put down abstinence, President Bush and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's daughter, Brand says the script he followed was the clean version after MTV insisted he scrap some of his jokes.
“I had John McCain gags pulled. And they asked me to tone down the gags about Sarah Palin," he told the Sun.
“I wanted to say she was forcing her teenage daughter to have a baby because she is so anti-abortion. But also, as a Republican, she is pro-execution so she is going to give her the electric chair for being a little slut. They weren’t keen on that one.”
Meanwhile, Sparks opened up to "Hannity and Colmes" on Wednesday about her decision to remain a virgin until marriage.
"I took the stand myself — my parents told me when I was 13 that it would be a good idea to wait until I was married," said Sparks, who wears a ring that says "True Love Waits."
Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez are also among the young stars who have vowed to remain chaste.
While Sparks attributes her decision to wear the ring to her religious faith, she said "what's great about the world we live in is everybody can make their own choice."
But Sparks clarified her remarks in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying, "I wish I would’ve worded it differently — that somebody who doesn’t wear a promise ring isn't necessarily a slut — but I can't take it back now," Sparks, 18, told the magazine.
"It was a split-second thing, and it came out kind of wrong. Still, I don't regret it."
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