The 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday were full of recap-worthy moments: Beyond the distinctive red carpet style, the energy of live performances from the likes of Katy Perry, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Karol G, Lenny Kravitz, and host Megan Thee Stallion made the night feel quite fun. (And we deserve it after that debate, right?)
Below, find all the moments we loved—or felt slightly weird about!—during the 2024 MTV VMAs.
Video Vanguard winner Katy Perry’s QR code lower back tattoo
Let me be clear: I am a lower-back-tattoo evangelist who is staying very silent about whether or not I have one for the sake of my parents, but a scannable hashtag is…a wild thing to ink onto your body. (Actually, maybe it’s temporary, or just some kind of living art piece?) Then again, Charli XCX did dub this the season of “showing off my brand-new little back tattoo.”
Sabrina Carpenter’s alien makout
Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet medley—which included a quick smooch with an alien—provided a welcome moment of upbeat weirdness on Wednesday night.
The Katy Perry medley
For better or worse, the rhythm of hits my generation of young-ish millennials grew up on (“Teenage Dream”! “Dark Horse”! “Firework!”) eventually thrilled me, as did Perry’s energetic performance and acknowledgement of the LGBTQ+ community which, she said, “I recognize I would not be here without.” Also, normalize making out with your hot husband onstage and making period jokes in award-show speeches!
Chappell Roan killing it at her very first VMAs
Roan delivered a perfect, medieval chainmail-clad rendition of her hit “Good Luck, Babe!” in what I’m choosing to receive as a very specific allusion to that one picture of Fiona Apple wearing a knight costume on the New York subway in the late ’90s. Later in the night, the lesbian pop artist’s acceptance speech upon winning the coveted best new artist award was, very appropriately, dedicated to “the queer and trans people who fuel pop.”
Tyla’s thoughtful, loving acceptance speech for her best-Afrobeats win
It’s difficult to accept an award while also respectfully critiquing the organizing body’s categorization system, but Tyla nailed it on Wednesday night, shouting out fellow musicians Tems and Burna Boy in her thank-you speech, but also calling attention to the need for a more expansive conversation about African artists across musical genres, too.
Taylor mentioning Travis—and, more importantly, encourages viewers to vote
It’s been a huge week for Taylor Swift populism: After the pop star formally endorsed Kamala Harris for president on Tuesday, following the vice president and 2024 Democratic nominee’s debate against Donald Trump, she was on hand at the MTV Video Music Awards to accept video of the year for “Fortnight” (among a smattering of other awards) and thank someone special—namely, her boyfriend Travis Kelce. “Everything this man touches turns to happiness, fun, and magic. So I want to thank him for adding that to our shoot,” Swift gushed before returning to the serious matter of November 5. “If you’re over 18, please register to vote for something else that is important—the presidential election,” she urged her fans.
See all the looks from the MTV VMA red carpet here:
