No butts about it - the infamous Eminem-Bruno stunt at the MTV Music Awards was staged, and the show's head writer has confirmed it. Eminem & Bruno looking a bit shady The hilarious skit saw Sacha Baron Cohen's camp character Bruno crash land on the rap star on Sunday night, causing something of a hoo-ha that led Eminem to storm out of the building.

Cheeky stunt: Eminem reacts as Bruno's waxed rear end pokes in his face at the MTV awards

It sparked a debate over whether Eminem, aka Slim Shady, was in on the act. Now writer Scott Aukerman has spilled the beans - and stolen MTV's thunder somewhat - by confessing to the set-up on his Tumblr blog.

He said: "Yes, the Bruno/Eminem incident was staged. That's all anyone wants to talk about, so let's get it out of the way.

They rehearsed it at dress and, yes, it went as far as it did on the live show then."

Prankster: Sacha Baron Cohen as Bruno

Well, that explains why Sacha appeared to have a freshly waxed bottom.

He flew above the audience in a harness dressed in a pair of feathery white angel wings and a gold jockstrap before plummeting towards the crowd, landing on the rapper.

Eminem played along, looking disgusted and making a fuss before storming out with his bodyguards.

Cameras were in place to catch his tantrum and much of his resulting rant was clearly picked up on microphone. Handy, that.

And even the man who brought us Borat wouldn't be brave or stupid enough to pull such a prank on a performer whose musical genre is littered with jail terms and drive-by murders.

Nevertheless, the stunt sparked a huge internet debate, and MTV - which has remained tight-lipped - must have been delighted at all of the publicity.

We don't think Eminem or Sacha would mind the extra publicity either, seeing as the singer is flogging a new album and the funnyman has a new movie to promote. Aukerman's blog has since been taken down...

Numerous "sources close to MTV and Sacha" have told US publications that the act was staged, with Eminem's consent.

Given Slim Shady's history of mocking celebs in song and video, we would have been surprised if he didn ' t see the lighter side.