This week’s 2022 MTV Video Music Awards in Newark, New Jersey, was a frenzied three-hour show, with several female artists nabbing the evening’s biggest awards, including Lizzo, who took home the Video for Good Award for her single “About Damn Time.”
Onstage, the iconic artist and fashionista accepted the award, making a speech which appeared to respond to a recent fat-shaming comment made by a male comedian.
“To the bitches that got something to say about me in the press,” she said. “You know, I ain’t gonna say nothing. They be like, ‘Lizzo, why don’t you clap back, why don’t you clap back?’ Because, bitches, I’m winning!”
She thanked her fans for voting for her before encouraging them to be politically engaged.
“Your vote means everything to me, it means everything to making a change in this country,” she said. “So remember when you’re voting for your favourite artists — vote to change some of these laws that are oppressing us.”
The following day, the artist tweeted that her speech was directed at “EVERYBODY.”
“Lemme make one thing VERY clear—I wasn’t addressing anybody in my speech last night.. I was addressing EVERYBODY.”
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift took home Video of the Year, Best Longform Video, Best Direction and Song of the Year for the 10 Minute Version of “All Too Well” from her 2021 re-recorded album Red.
Swift said her Video of the Year win was historic, as “for the first time in VMA history, four of the directors nominated in the video of the year category are women.”
She also thanked her fans for “emboldening” her to re-record her first five albums.
“You guys, I’m just so proud of what we made, and I know that every second of this moment that we wouldn’t have been able to make this short film if it weren’t for you, the fans,” she said.
Accepting her award, the 32-year also announced her next album, Midnights, would be released on 21 October — her 10th studio album.
“Because I wouldn’t be able to re-record my album [Red (Taylor’s Version)] if it weren’t for you,” she told fans. “You emboldened me to do that. And I had sort of made up my mind that if you were going to be this generous and give us this, I thought it might be a fun moment to tell you that my brand new album comes out October 21st. And I will tell you more at midnight.”
A few hours later, Swift’s official website crashed. On her socials, she revealed the title and cover of the upcoming 13-track album, describing it as “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life”.
“This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams,” she wrote.
“The floors we pace and the demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching – hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes 12 … we’ll meet ourselves.”
Other female artists took home awards, including Nicki Minaj, who won Best Hip-Hop for “Do We Have a Problem?”, Blackpink’s Lisa for Best K-pop, former Disney child star Dove Cameron for Best New Artist, and Billie Eilish, who took home Song of the Year for “Happier Than Ever”.
“I wish that Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson were here,” Minaj said in her acceptance speech.
“I wish that people had understood what they meant and what they were going through. I wish people took mental health seriously, even for the people that you think have the perfect lives. Stay super freaky, have great vagina, I love you.”
Johnny Depp’s face made a series of bizarre appearances at several moments during the evening’s telecast, popping up as a projection on MTV’s famous astronaut mascot, the Moon Man, saying he was available for “birthdays, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, weddings, wakes, anything you need.”