Miley Cyrus lets a former homeless man accept her VMA

There was no twerking, foam hands or lap dancing from Miley Cyrus this year.

But the pop star still had people talking after the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday.

She took home the video of the year honor for "Wrecking Ball," topping Beyonce and Jay Z's "Drunk In Love," Iggy Azalea's "Fancy," Pharrell Williams' "Happy" and Sia's "Chandelier."

Instead of accepting the honor herself, in a surprising twist, a teary-eyed Cyrus let her "date" -- a former homeless teenager -- accept the honor.

"Thank y'all, my name is Jesse and I accepting this award on behalf of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the United States who are starving, lost and scared for their lives right now. I know this because I am one of these people," the young man said, while Cyrus sat nearby onstage. "I've survived in shelters all over. ...Though I may have been invisible to you in the streets, I have a lot of the same dreams that brought many of you here tonight."

Cyrus also took to Instagram posing with Jesse in an effort to raise awareness about youth homelessness:

And she explained some more about the cause on Facebook: