NEW YORK – Suddenly, the MTV Video Music Awards are all about Justin Timberlake.

Timberlake took over the awards Sunday night, wrestling the spotlight away from a rehabilitated Lady Gaga, an X-rated Miley Cyrus and a vengeful Taylor Swift with a medley of hits and the rumored reunion with former boy band mates 'N Sync.

Timberlake — the night's top nominee with early leader Macklemore & Ryan Lewis — also was given the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award by Jimmy Fallon. "I don't deserve the award, but I'm not going to give it back," Timberlake said. "I'm taking this home." Timberlake powered through a breathless series of solo hits before the other four members of 'N Sync — JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone and Lance Bass — joined him on stage, opening with "Bye Bye Bye."

Up till then, the ladies of pop music dominated as Cyrus became the rare artist to upstage Lady Gaga. But Swift managed to take the spotlight from both after appearing to utter an expletive when One Direction and rumored former love interest Harry Styles appeared at Sunday night's award show — a moment that lit up Twitter and was memorialized immediately in a GIF online. She also thanked a former beau for helping her win another moonman trophy for "I Knew You Were Trouble" in the best female video category.

Back at you, Lance Armstrong

Britain's Sunday Times has reached a settlement with Lance Armstrong after suing the disgraced cyclist to recover damages from a libel settlement. The paper paid Armstrong about $470,000 in 2006 to settle a case after printing claims that he took performance-enhancing drugs. But confirmation that Armstrong led a massive doping program on his teams came last year from a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report, prompting a confession by the American, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. The Sunday Times announced it was suing Armstrong for around $1.6 million to reclaim the 2006 settlement payment plus interest and legal costs. In Sunday's editions, the paper said it and the article's authors had reached a "mutually acceptable final resolution" with Armstrong, but said the terms are confidential.

Baby makes three: Alec Baldwin and his wife have given birth to a baby girl in New York. Hilaria Baldwin tweeted the news of Carmen Gabriela's birth Friday night. The former "30 Rock" star is also the father of a 17-year-old daughter, Ireland, from his previous marriage to actress Kim Basinger. Hilaria Baldwin is a special correspondent for the TV show "Extra." The couple wed last June after a three-month engagement.

Armstrong

Associated Press