The MTV Video Music Awards aired, for the first time in its 41-year history, on CBS. Though the move marked a bit of synergy with Paramount Global, the parent company of both networks, it brought the awards show that had long been at the forefront of youth culture to the broadcaster with the oldest prime-time viewership.
Those watching saw a familiar host in LL Cool J, a previous M.C. of the Grammys on the same network. On Sunday night, performers at the ceremony leaned into nostalgia, beginning with Doja Cat’s Max Headroom-referencing opener and continuing with honors for mainstays of MTV’s T.R.L. heyday: Ricky Martin lived la vida loca once again as the recipient of the inaugural Latin Icon Award and Busta Rhymes became the first recipient of the Rock the Bells Visionary Award.
Lady Gaga entered with the most nominations (12) and questions about how she would manage her appearance at the awards show, staged at the UBS Arena on Long Island, and her tour stop at Madison Square Garden in the same night (more on that later). Mariah Carey received (incomprehensibly!) her first moon person amid standout performances from rising stars like Tate McRae, Alex Warren, Megan Moroney and Yungblud, who paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne. Here are the highlights of the 2025 MTV V.M.A.s.
Doja Cat threw it back to the 1980s.
The red carpet bouffant should have been the first tipoff. Doja Cat, whose upcoming album, “Vie,” evokes the ’80s, showed up with a teased hairdo straight out of the glam rock era and … promptly took a bite of lipstick during a preshow interview.
The Los Angeles rapper and singer may not have been born when the computerized video jockey Max Headroom hit TVs in the mid-’80s, but that didn’t stop Doja Cat from assuming his look in a video message to kick off her performance of “Jealous Type,” her latest single. Kenny G opened with a few notes on his saxophone, before Doja Cat moved through a mean pop-and-lock and vamped moves that evoked the choreography from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’s early productions for Janet Jackson. — BRIAN JOSEPHS