Sinead Butler
Aug 29, 2022
MTV VMAs
It was an eventful time at MTV's Video Music Awards in Newark, New Jersey, last night.
The annual awards were presented by Nicki Minaj, Jack Harlow and LL Cool J and there was plenty of entertainment with performances from Mäneskin, BLACKPINK, Anitta, Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Kane Brown, Marshmello and Khalid, Lizzo, Panic! at the Disco, Jack Harlow, Fergie and Nicki Minaj.
Eminem and Snoop Dogg incorporated the metaverse into their performance, as they were in their Bored Ape NFT avatars for half the song.
Not to mention there was also a Johnny Depp cameo at the beginning of the show.
Taylor Swift took home the Video of the Year for a historic third time and also announced details of her album, while Nick Minaj delighted audiences with her greatest hits medley and received the Vanguard award and won the "Best Hip-Hop" video.
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Bad Bunny scooped the Artist of the Year Award, Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever was crowned Song of the Year and Harry Styles won Album of the Year.
Other winners include Dove Cameron for Best New Artist, Mäneskin for Best Alternative, Lisa for Best K-pop, Lizzo for Video for Good, The Weeknd for Best R&B and Anitta for Best Latin (see the full list of winners here).
Here are some of the night's most memorable moments:
Taylor Swift announced her new album 'Midnights'
Taylor Swift made history to become the first artist to win three VMA awards for Video of the Year after she won the award this year for "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" which she starred in and directed.
In her speech, Swift described being "so heartened by the fact for the first time in VMA history four of the directors nominated in the Video of the Year category are women."
\u201cWe all just witnessed a HISTORIC third win for Video Of The Year at the #VMAs for @taylorswift13 \ud83d\ude2d CONGRATS, TAYLOR!!!\u201d— MTV (@MTV) 1661745388
Upon winning the coveted award, Swift also decided it was a "fun moment" to announce that her 10th studio album will be released on October 21.
"I will tell you more a midnight," she added, in what was a teaser for the album title "Midnights," which Swift has described as being "the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life."
... and we also saw she loves a dance and a rap.
If Taylor Swift is at an award show, then you can count on her to be a supportive audience member when other acts are performing as fans saw her bust out the dance moves when BLACKPINK performed Pink Venom and she also could be seen rapping along to Superbass during Nicki Minaj's Vanguard performance too.
And it certainly didn't get unnoticed on Twitter...
\u201cTaylor Swift singing along to #BLACKPINK\u2019s Pink Venom at the #VMAs!\u201d— \ud83d\udda4\u2728 (@\ud83d\udda4\u2728) 1661732997
\u201cTAYLOR SWIFT BLINK ERA!!!! she knows the sobg and she\u2019s vibing with it \ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\udc96\ud83d\udc0d\n\nTASTE THAT VENOM ON VMAS\n#BLACKPINKInYourVMAs #PINKVENOM\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0@BLACKPINK\n\nhttps://t.co/AEcINZ1BOi\u201d— sloane (@sloane) 1661734020
\u201c\ud83d\udcf9 | Taylor Swift dancing to \u2018Superbass\u2019 by @NICKIMINAJ #VMAs\u201d— Taylor Swift News \ud83d\udd55 (@Taylor Swift News \ud83d\udd55) 1661735065
\u201cTaylor Swift singing along to Nicki Minaj\u2019s \u201cSuper Bass\u201d \u201d— Nicki Minaj Access \ud83e\udd84 (@Nicki Minaj Access \ud83e\udd84) 1661735255
Nicki Minaj wins Vanguard award and speaks about mental health
This year, Nicki Minaj won the Vanguard award and delivered an iconic medley of her greatest hits including her verse from Kanye West's Monster, as well as All Things Go, Beez in the Trap, Chun-Li, Roman’s Revenge, Moment 4 Life, Super Bass, Anaconda and Super Freaky Girl.
\u201cA lil' gift from me to you: @NICKIMINAJ's Video Vanguard performance from the 2022 #VMAs \ud83c\udfa4 \ud83c\udf80\u201d— MTV (@MTV) 1661741572
In her speech, Minaj said she wished "Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson were here," and added: "I wish that people understood what they meant and what they were going through."
“I wrote people who gave me huge opportunities that I’ll never forget: Kanye West, Beyonce, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Eminem, Britney Spears, Rihanna. Thank you for everything," the rapper also mentioned.
Lizzo referenced an infamous VMA moment during her speech
When Lizzo won the Video For Good award last night, she decided to call out her haters by referencing the infamous beef Nicki Minaj had with Miley Cyrus at the 2015 VMA's in which Minaj said: And now, back to this b**** who had a lot to say about me the other day in the press: Miley, what’s good?"
\u201cLizzo references Nicki Minaj\u2019s 2015 #VMAs moment:\n\n\u201cAnd now, to the bitches that got something to say about me in the press\u2026\u201d\u201d— Pop Base (@Pop Base) 1661738445
"You know what, I ain’t gonna say nothing. They be like, ‘Lizzo, why don’t you clap back? Why don’t you clap back?’ 'Cause b****, I'm winning, ho," Lizzo added.
It's fair to say viewers loved the reference...
\u201cYASSS LIZZO HAVE THAT NICKI MOMENT WHATSSS GOODDDD\u201d— Nel Maraj \ud83e\udd84 (@Nel Maraj \ud83e\udd84) 1661738062
\u201cYASS LIZZO THE NICKI REFRENCE IM CRYINGGG\u201d— bran\ud83c\udf39\ud83d\ude80(FreeKesha) (@bran\ud83c\udf39\ud83d\ude80(FreeKesha)) 1661738069
\u201cMiley-what\u2019s-good will always be so iconic\u201d— \ud80c\udc80 (@\ud80c\udc80) 1661756847
Mäneskin's racy performance got censored by MTV, viewers say
Italian glam rock band and Eurovision 2021 winners Mäneskin performed their latest song Supermodel and the band certainly turned heads with their attire.
Frontman Damiano David sported a G-string and leather chaps, while bassist Victoria De Angelis’ pastie appeared to fall off mid-performance.
\u201cI will never ever ever get enough of @thisismaneskin \u2014 but their #VMAs performance will definitely hold me over \u2764\ufe0f \ud83c\udfb8\u201d— MTV (@MTV) 1661744422
This resulted in complaints about the performance being censored as viewers tweeted that there were more shots of the New Jersey venue than of the actual band.
Mäneskin fans expressed their disappointment on Twitter.
\u201cI\u2019m sorry but Maneskin ATE this performance up, there was no need to censor Damiano #VMAs #Maneskin\u201d— lesly_in_wonderland\ud83d\udc8e (@lesly_in_wonderland\ud83d\udc8e) 1661740619
\u201cWhoever is doing the camera at the VMAs rn needs to get fired. Half of Maneskin\u2019s set was missed\u201d— bri (@bri) 1661739998
\u201cI can\u2019t believe that Maneskin has the most exciting set of the whole #vmas & MTV censored the whole damn set!!!! Justice for Maneskin!!!\u201d— Sara (@Sara) 1661740090
\u201cNo, we don\u2019t because #VMAs\u00a0 decided to censor 3/4 of the performance! #maneskin @MTVNEWS\u201d— Daniela Iorli (@Daniela Iorli) 1661741228
Johnny Depp appeared as a moon man
The rumours were in fact true, Johnny Depp made an appearance at the VMA's as he made a brief appearance as a moon man, the mascot that appears on the award trophies.
“I just want you guys to know I’m available for birthdays, bat mitzvahs, weddings, wakes – any old thing you need," the 59-year-old joked in the digital cameo.
"And you know what? I needed the work," he added, sporting a clean-cut face.
It comes after The Pirates of the Caribbean star won his libel case against ex-wife Amber Heard in June this year.
Viewers weren't so impressed and mocked Depp's "big comeback," while others expressed outrage.
\u201ci can\u2019t stop laughing, this is what his fans called \u201cjohnny depp\u2019s big comeback\u201d\u201d— lilian (@lilian) 1661732314
\u201cthe johnny depp cameo is so disgusting. i'm sick!\u201d— kyndall/jake gyllenhaal\u2019s wife (@kyndall/jake gyllenhaal\u2019s wife) 1661734186
\u201cWhy is a Johnny depp computer screen being hoisted around the vmas like this\u201d— Kat Tenbarge (@Kat Tenbarge) 1661734182
\u201cjohnny depp vmas appearance was....a choice\u201d— Alexa Shouneyia (@Alexa Shouneyia) 1661734845
For the full list of VMA 2022 winners click here.
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