2022 MTV Video Music Awards explained

2022 MTV Video Music Awards
Date:	Sunday, August 28, 2022 8:00–11:19 p.m. EDT
Venue:	Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Country:	United States
Producer:	Bruce Gillmer Jesse Ignjatovic
Director:	Liz Clare
Host:	LL Cool J Nicki Minaj Jack Harlow^[1]
Most Awards:	Jack Harlow (4)
Most Nominations:	Doja Cat Jack Harlow Harry Styles (8 each)
Previous:	2021
Next:	2023

The 2022 MTV Video Music Awards were held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on August 28, 2022.^[2] The show was emceed by LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj, and Jack Harlow.^[3] Minaj was honored with the Video Vanguard Award, presented to her by her fans.^{[4] [5]} Red Hot Chili Peppers was honored with the Global Icon Award which was presented to them by Cheech & Chong.^[6] This was the last VMA ceremony to be broadcast on The CW.

Performances

Artist(s)! scope="col"

Song(s)
Pre-show^[7]
Saucy Santana	"Booty" "I'm Too Much"
Yung Gravy	"Betty (Get Money)"
Dove Cameron	"Boyfriend" "Breakfast"
Main show^[8] ^[9] ^[10] ^[11] ^[12] ^[13]
Jack Harlow Fergie	"First Class" "Glamorous"
Lizzo	"About Damn Time" "2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)"
Blackpink	"Pink Venom"
J Balvin Ryan Castro	"Nivel de Perreo"
Khalid Marshmello	"Numb"
Nicki Minaj	Video Vanguard Medley "All Things Go" "Roman's Revenge" "Monster" "Beez in the Trap" "Chun-Li" "Moment 4 Life" "Super Bass" "Anaconda" "Super Freaky Girl"
Eminem Snoop Dogg	"From the D 2 the LBC"
Red Hot Chili Peppers	Global Icon Medley "Black Summer" "Can't Stop"
Anitta	"Envolver" "Movimento da Sanfoninha" "Bola Rebola" "Vai Malandra" "Lobby"
Kane Brown	"Grand"
Måneskin	"Supermodel"
Bad Bunny	"Tití Me Preguntó"
Panic! at the Disco	"Don't Let the Light Go Out"
Extended Play Stage^[14] (Presented by Doritos)
Conan Gray	"Disaster" "Memories"
Flo Milli	"Conceited" "Bedtime"
JID	"Dance Now" "Surround Sound"
Lauren Spencer-Smith	"Fingers Crossed" "Flowers"

Presenters

Presenters were announced on August 26. Nessa Diab and Kevan Kenney hosted the 90-minute pre-show event, while Tate McRae served as special celebrity correspondent. Murda Beatz acted as the pre-show House DJ.

Pre-show

• Kevan Kenney – presented Best Alternative and Best Metaverse Performance
• Tate McRae – presented Push Performance of the Year

Main show

• Johnny Depp – intermittently appeared throughout the ceremony in pre-recorded segments as the Moon Person
• Offset and DJ Khaled – presented Best Collaboration
• Avril Lavigne – announced the finalists for Best New Artist and presented the award later in the night
• Latto – introduced Blackpink
• Lili Reinhart – presented Best Longform Video
• Offset – introduced Conan Gray and the Extended Play Stage
• Chlöe – introduced Marshmello and Khalid
• Jimmy Fallon – presented Album of the Year
• Members of Nicki Minaj's fanbase, the Barbz – presented the Video Vanguard Award to Nicki Minaj
• Sofia Carson – presented Best K-Pop
• Cheech & Chong – introduced the Red Hot Chili Peppers and presented the Global Icon Award to them
• Bebe Rexha – presented Video for Good
• Blackpink – introduced Anitta
• Jack Harlow (emcee) and Druski – introduced Kane Brown
• Ashley Graham – presented Best Latin
• Dixie D'Amelio – introduced Måneskin
• Becky G – presented Best Hip Hop
• Dove Cameron – presented Song of Summer
• Nicki Minaj (emcee) – presented Artist of the Year
• Carmelo Anthony – presented the Artist of the Year award to Bad Bunny at Yankee Stadium
• Joel Madden – presented Best Rock
• Billy Eichner – introduced Panic! at the Disco
• LL Cool J and Nicki Minaj (emcees) – presented Video of the Year

Winners and nominees

Nominations were announced on July 26, 2022. Jack Harlow, Kendrick Lamar and Lil Nas X had the most nominations with seven each, followed by Doja Cat and Harry Styles having six nominations each.^[15] Nominees for Song of Summer, Group of the Year, and Album of the Year were announced on August 19. Voting for Group of the Year and Song of Summer ran from August 22–25 and August 25–27 respectively, while voting for Album of the Year ran from August 27 until the show, via MTV's Instagram stories.^[16] After the second round of categories was announced, the nominations for Doja Cat, Harlow and Styles increased to eight each, making them the artists with the most nominations.^[16] Harlow was the most awarded nominee with four wins, followed by Lil Nas X, Styles and Taylor Swift having three each.

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

Video of the Year
! scope="col" style="background:#EEDD85; width:50%"

Song of the Year
Taylor Swift – Doja Cat – "Woman" Drake (featuring Future and Young Thug) – "Way 2 Sexy" Ed Sheeran – "Shivers" Harry Styles – "As It Was" Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow – "Industry Baby" Olivia Rodrigo – "Brutal"	Billie Eilish – "Happier Than Ever" Adele – "Easy on Me" Doja Cat – "Woman" Elton John and Dua Lipa – "Cold Heart (Pnau remix)" Lizzo – "About Damn Time" The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber – "Stay"
Artist of the Year	Best New Artist
Bad Bunny Drake Ed Sheeran Harry Styles Jack Harlow Lil Nas X Lizzo	Dove Cameron Baby Keem Gayle Latto Måneskin Seventeen
Push Performance of The Year	Best Collaboration
Seventeen – "Rock With You" Griff – "One Night" Remi Wolf – "Sexy Villain" Nessa Barrett – "I Hope Ur Miserable Until Ur Dead" Mae Muller – "Better Days" Gayle – "ABCDEFU" Shenseea – "R U That" Omar Apollo – "Tamagotchi" Wet Leg – "Chaise Longue" Muni Long – "Baby Boo" Doechii – "Persuasive"	Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow – "Industry Baby" Drake (featuring Future and Young Thug) – "Way 2 Sexy" Elton John and Dua Lipa – "Cold Heart (Pnau remix)" Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa – "Sweetest Pie" Post Malone and The Weeknd – "One Right Now" Rosalía (featuring The Weeknd) – "La Fama" The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber – "Stay"
Best Pop	Best Hip Hop
Harry Styles – "As It Was" Billie Eilish – "Happier Than Ever" Doja Cat – "Woman" Ed Sheeran – "Shivers" Lizzo – "About Damn Time" Olivia Rodrigo – "Traitor"	Nicki Minaj (featuring Lil Baby) – "Do We Have a Problem?" Eminem and Snoop Dogg – "From the D 2 the LBC" Future (featuring Drake and Tems) – "Wait for U" Kendrick Lamar –  "N95" Latto – "Big Energy" Pusha T – "Diet Coke"
Best R&B	Best K-Pop
The Weeknd – "Out of Time" Alicia Keys – "City of Gods (Part II)" Chlöe – "Have Mercy" H.E.R. – "For Anyone" Normani (featuring Cardi B) – "Wild Side" Summer Walker, SZA and Cardi B – "No Love" (Extended Version)	Lisa –  "Lalisa" BTS – "Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)" Itzy – "Loco" Seventeen – "Hot" Stray Kids – "Maniac" Twice – "The Feels"
Best Latin	Best Rock
Anitta – "Envolver" Bad Bunny – "Tití Me Preguntó" Becky G and Karol G – "Mamiii" Daddy Yankee – "Remix" Farruko – "Pepas" J Balvin and Skrillex – "In da Getto"	Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Black Summer" Foo Fighters – "Love Dies Young" Jack White – "Taking Me Back" Muse – "Won't Stand Down" Shinedown – "Planet Zero" Three Days Grace – "So Called Life"
Best Alternative	Video for Good
Måneskin – "I Wanna Be Your Slave" Avril Lavigne (featuring Blackbear) – "Love It When You Hate Me" Imagine Dragons and JID – "Enemy" Machine Gun Kelly (featuring Willow) – "Emo Girl" Panic! at the Disco – "Viva Las Vengeance" Twenty One Pilots – "Saturday" Willow and Avril Lavigne (featuring Travis Barker) – "Grow"	Lizzo – "About Damn Time" Kendrick Lamar – "The Heart Part 5" Latto – "Pussy" Rina Sawayama – "This Hell" Stromae – "Fils de joie"
Group of the Year	Song of Summer
BTS Blackpink City Girls Foo Fighters Imagine Dragons Måneskin Red Hot Chili Peppers Silk Sonic	Jack Harlow – "First Class" Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone – "Me Porto Bonito" Beyoncé – "Break My Soul" Charlie Puth (featuring Jungkook) – "Left and Right" Doja Cat – "Vegas" Future (featuring Drake and Tems) – "Wait for U" Harry Styles – "Late Night Talking" Kane Brown – "Grand" Latto and Mariah Carey (featuring DJ Khaled) – "Big Energy (Remix)" Lizzo – "About Damn Time" Marshmello and Khalid – "Numb" Nicki Minaj – "Super Freaky Girl" Nicky Youre and dazy – "Sunroof" Post Malone (featuring Doja Cat) – "I Like You (A Happier Song)" Rosalía – "Bizcochito" Steve Lacy – "Bad Habit"
Album of the Year	Best Metaverse Performance
Harry Styles – Harry's House Adele – 30 Bad Bunny – Un Verano Sin Ti Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever Drake – Certified Lover Boy	(PUBG) BTS (Minecraft) Charli XCX (Roblox) Justin Bieber – An Interactive Virtual Experience (Wave) Rift Tour (featuring Ariana Grande) (Fortnite) Twenty One Pilots Concert Experience (Roblox)
Best Longform Video	Best Direction
Taylor Swift – Billie Eilish – Foo Fighters – Studio 666 Kacey Musgraves – Star-Crossed Madonna – Madame X Olivia Rodrigo – Driving Home 2 U	Taylor Swift – (Director: Taylor Swift) Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar – "Family Ties" (Director: Dave Free) Billie Eilish – "Happier Than Ever" (Director: Billie Eilish) Ed Sheeran – "Shivers" (Director: Dave Meyers) Harry Styles – "As It Was" (Director: Tanu Muino) Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow – "Industry Baby" (Director: Christian Breslauer)
Best Art Direction	Best Choreography
Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow – "Industry Baby" (Art Director: Alex Delgado) Adele – "Oh My God" (Art Directors: NuCalifornia) Doja Cat – "Get Into It (Yuh)" (Art Director: Matt Sokoler) Drake (featuring Future and Young Thug) – "Way 2 Sexy" (Art Director: Keith Raywood) Kacey Musgraves – "Simple Times" (Art Directors: K. K. Barrett and Alan Petherick) Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa – "Sweetest Pie" (Art Director: Tyler Evans)	Doja Cat – "Woman" (Choreographer: "Fullout Cortland" (Cortland Brown)) BTS – "Permission to Dance" (Choreographers: Big Hit Music Performance Directing Team) FKA Twigs (featuring The Weeknd) – "Tears in the Club" (Choreographers: Sean Bankhead and Zoï Tatopoulos) Harry Styles – "As It Was" (Choreographer: Yoann Bourgeois) Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow – "Industry Baby" (Choreographer: Sean Bankhead) Normani (featuring Cardi B) – "Wild Side" (Choreographer: Sean Bankhead)
Best Cinematography	Best Editing
Harry Styles – "As It Was" (Director of Photography: Nikita Kuzmenko) Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar – "Family Ties" (Director of Photography: Bruce Cole) Camila Cabello (featuring Ed Sheeran) – "Bam Bam" (Director of Photography: David Bolen) Kendrick Lamar – "N95" (Director of Photography: Adam Newport-Berra) Normani (featuring Cardi B) – "Wild Side" (Director of Photography: Nikita Kuzmenko) Taylor Swift – (Director of Photography: Rina Yang)	Rosalía – "Saoko" (Editors: Valentin Petit and Jon Echeveste) Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar – "Family Ties" (Editor: Neal Farmer) Doja Cat – "Get Into It (Yuh)" (Editor: Mike Diva) Olivia Rodrigo – "Brutal" (Editor: Alyssa Oh from Rock Paper Scissors) Taylor Swift – (Editor: Ted Guard) The Weeknd – "Take My Breath" (Editor: Nick Rondeau)
Best Visual Effects
Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow – "Industry Baby" (Visual Effects: Cameo FX) Billie Eilish – "Happier Than Ever" (Visual Effects: Ingenuity Studios) Coldplay and BTS – "My Universe" (Visual Effects: AMGI, BUF, Ingenuity, Rodeo FX and Territory Studio) Kendrick Lamar – "The Heart Part 5" (Visual Effects: Deep Voodoo) Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa – "Sweetest Pie" (Visual Effects: Mário Dubec at UPP) The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber – "Stay" (Visual Effects: Digital Axis)
Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award
Nicki Minaj
Global Icon Award
Red Hot Chili Peppers

Notes and References

1. Web site: LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj, And Jack Harlow Are Your 2022 VMAs MCs . https://web.archive.org/web/20220818144944/https://www.mtv.com/news/bwqyzd/ll-cool-j-nicki-minaj-jack-harlow-mc-vmas . dead . August 18, 2022 . MTV News . August 18, 2022 . August 18, 2022.
2. Web site: Specter . Emma . August 25, 2022 . Everything You Need to Know About the 2022 VMAs . August 28, 2022 . . en-US.
3. Web site: Carras . Christi . August 28, 2022 . VMAs 2022: Here's everything you need to know . August 28, 2022 . . en-US.
4. Web site: Serrano . Athena . August 8, 2022 . Nicki Minaj Is Your 2022 VMA Video Vanguard Award Recipient . https://web.archive.org/web/20220808170619/https://www.mtv.com/news/bp68ax/nicki-minaj-video-vanguard-award-vmas-announcement . dead . August 8, 2022 . August 29, 2022 . . en.
5. Web site: Watch Nicki Minaj Accept Video Vanguard Award, Perform Career-Spanning Medley At The VMAs. Stereogum. August 28, 2022. James. Rettig. August 29, 2022.
6. Web site: Halperin . Shirley . Garcia . Thania . 24 August 2022 . Cheech and Chong to Present Global Icon Award to Red Hot Chili Peppers at VMAs . 28 August 2022 . . en-US.
7. Web site: Burton . Carson . Dove Cameron, Yung Gravy, Saucy Santana to Headline MTV VMAs Pre-Show Performances . Variety . August 19, 2022 . August 19, 2022.
8. Web site: 2022-08-05 . Anitta, J Balvin and More Performers Revealed for 2022 MTV Video Music Awards . 2022-08-05 . E! Online.
9. Web site: Serrano . Athena . Nicki Minaj Is Your 2022 VMA Video Vanguard Award Recipient . https://web.archive.org/web/20220808170619/https://www.mtv.com/news/bp68ax/nicki-minaj-video-vanguard-award-vmas-announcement . dead . August 8, 2022 . MTV News . August 8, 2022 . August 8, 2022.
10. Web site: Serrano . Athena . Kane Brown Will Deliver A 'Grand' Performance At 2022 VMAs . https://web.archive.org/web/20220811174531/https://www.mtv.com/news/qnmkbi/kane-brown-2022-vmas-performing . dead . August 11, 2022 . MTV News . August 11, 2022 . August 11, 2022.
11. Grein . Paul . Lizzo, Jack Harlow, BLACKPINK and Maneskin Added as 2022 VMAs Performers . Billboard . August 15, 2022 . August 15, 2022.
12. Web site: Serrano . Athena . Bad Bunny To Hop Onstage At Yankee Stadium For VMAs Performance . https://web.archive.org/web/20220824200606/https://www.mtv.com/news/9ffhen/bad-bunny-2022-vmas-performing . dead . August 24, 2022 . MTV News . August 24, 2022 . August 24, 2022.
13. Web site: Serrano . Athena . From The Stage 2 The Screen: Eminem And Snoop Dogg Will Pair Up At The VMAs . https://web.archive.org/web/20220825162531/https://www.mtv.com/news/9qhnl2/eminem-snoop-dogg-2022-vmas-announcement . dead . August 25, 2022 . MTV News . August 25, 2022 . August 25, 2022.
14. Web site: Serrano . Athena . Avril Lavigne, Chlöe Bailey, Latto, And More To Present The 2022 VMAs . https://web.archive.org/web/20220826165558/https://www.mtv.com/news/rcg43v/2022-vma-presenters . dead . August 26, 2022 . MTV News . August 26, 2022 . August 26, 2022.
15. Web site: Your 2022 VMA Nominations Are Here: Jack Harlow, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Nas X Lead The Pack . https://web.archive.org/web/20220726133318/https://www.mtv.com/news/hwekgl/vmas-2022-nominees-lil-nas-x-jack-harlow-kendrick-lamar . dead . July 26, 2022 . 2022-07-26 . MTV . en.
16. Grein . Paul . August 19, 2022 . Will BTS Make It Four in a Row as Group of the Year at 2022 MTV VMAs? . August 29, 2022 . Billboard.