Acts, Awards, and Announcements: The 2022 VMAs Hit American Screens

By Emily Berliner

BLACKPINK performs onstage at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28th, 2022. (Bryan Bedder / Variety)

3.7 million viewers tuned in at 8:00 PM EST on August 28 to watch the MTV Video Music Awards of 2022. Many familiar faces were seen, including Johnny Depp, who was surprisingly—and controversially—digitally projected onto the MTV mascot, the Moon Man. Fans all over were shocked to see rapper Yung Gravy bring Sheri Easterling, mother of TikTok star Addison Rae, as his date. These astonishing celebrity spectacles caused much excitement, but the night was only just beginning.

Many artists walked home winners, one of them being Bad Bunny, recipient of the Artist of the Year award. Several artists were awarded multiple VMAs such as Jack Harlow, who won four, and Harry Styles who won three. Taylor Swift also won three awards, which brings her to a total of fourteen and places her in fourth place for most VMAs won ever. While accepting her Video of the Year VMA, Swift used the opportunity to announce the release of her new album ‘Midnight’ on October 21. The Best New Artist award went to Dove Cameron, who dedicated her win to “all the queer kids out there” and thanked them for getting an openly LGBTQ song onto mainstream radio. Even with all the wins from popular artists like Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Lil Nas X and more, there was still time for performances.

Nicki Minaj, the Video Vanguard Award recipient, took the stage and performed a medley of iconic moments from her career. Jack Harlow performed his hit song ‘First Class,’ then welcomed Fergie to the stage to sing her song that he sampled, ‘Glamorous.’ K-pop group Blackpink had their first performance at an American awards show, where they sang their single ‘Pink Venom.'