2020 MTV Video Music Awards

The 2020 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 30, 2020. Keke Palmer hosted the 37th annual ceremony, which was presented primarily from New York City, but with a virtual ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lady Gaga was the most awarded act of the night with five awards, as well as the most nominated alongside Ariana Grande, with both artists receiving nine nominations each. Gaga was presented with the inaugural MTV Tricon Award for achievements in three or more fields of entertainment. The longlist of nominees for Push Best New Artist were revealed on July 23, 2020; nominees for other categories were announced on July 30. Fan voting began on July and ended on August 23. Nominees for Song of Summer, Best Group and Everyday Heroes: Frontline Medical Workers were released on August 24. The show was dedicated to Chadwick Boseman, who died of colon cancer two days before the ceremony.

The ceremony was aired by MTV and simulcast across other ViacomCBS cable networks. For the first time, the ceremony was also carried on broadcast television in the U.S. via co-owned The CW. The show received 6.4 million viewers in its first-run viewing (excluding livestreams through network apps), a 5% decrease from the 6.8 million viewers at the previous ceremony.

Ceremony information

The awards were originally scheduled to return to the Barclays Center for the first time since 2013. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was expected to be held with "limited or no audience", as one of the first major indoor events to be held in the city since the onset of the pandemic in the state, with MTV also announcing plans for the show to "[span] all five boroughs" to "pay homage to the strength, spirit and incredible resilience of NYC and its beloved residents".