Van Toffler Rich Fury/Invision/AP MTV Video Music Awards executive producer Van Toffler promises that there will be something for everyone at this year’s show.
“At its best, the VMAs are kind of genre-, age- and color-blind,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It is by design to have this mix of a host like Snoop [Dogg] and an artist like Madonna opening, with some special guests, and tributes to people like Nirvana and also have first-time performers like Sienna Spiro and Raye. We have Lisa, we’ve got Yung Lean and Gener8ion. I think that’s when the VMAs are at their best. There’s this kind of crazy — what we used to say as kids — bitches brew of eclectic artists all in on one stage. That’s where the fun happens.”
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As he noted, Madonna will open this year’s show with her first VMAs performance in 23 years. She’s had her fair share of big VMA moments, from writhing on the floor while singing “Like a Virgin” in 1984 to kissing Britney Spears onstage in 2003. Toffler teases that her performance this year will be “awesome.”
“She’s rehearsing now, but it’s got so many fun, different elements, it will make your head spin, no doubt,” he says. “She never disappoints. She is actually the ‘M’ in ‘MTV.'”
Additionally, this year’s VMAs will pay tribute to not only Nirvana but also Dolly Parton, who died this year, and George Michael, who died in 2016. Kacey Musgraves will perform in Parton’s honor, while Raye, Sombr and Teddy Swims will pay tribute to Michael. Toffler said the timing was right to honor all of these artists for various reasons.
“Nirvana is a timeless band,” he says, noting that artists ranging from Dr. Dre to Olivia Rodrigo have expressed their appreciation for the band. “I was personally surprised, having gone away from the channel for 10 years [after serving as an exec there for 28 years], to realize that Nirvana never got the Video Vanguard Award. I can’t think of a more impactful band in the history of MTV. I remember we all stopped everything the day that [frontman] Kurt Cobain died [in 1994], and MTV turned into a news channel because it had such an impact on our audience.”
Toffler — who declines to reveal who will be on hand to accept the award for the band, which also included drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic — noted the long-lasting impact of the video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
“Once you saw those pom-poms, you could never not associate them with rage or the janitor or Kurt swinging from a chandelier, right?” he asks. “They’re etched in your cerebellum, those images, and so I’m just happy we get to finally recognize their art and craft and influence.”
Likewise, Toffler notes, Michael was another “seminal part of MTV’s history.” The artist was known for memorable videos such as “Faith” (featuring him shaking his rump to the beat) and the David Fincher-directed “Freedom! ’90” (Michael, who’d grown weary of fame, refused to appear in the video, which instead featured a group of supermodels including Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz and Christy Turlington).
Noting that it’s the 40th anniversary of the release of his career-defining album, Faith, Toffler said Michael also was one of the artists who appeared on MTV’s 10th anniversary show in 1991. The tribute all came together with Raye, Sombr and Swims, three artists who “love” Michael’s music.
And of course, the world is still mourning the death of Parton, who died Aug. 25 at age 80. Toffler says they’re aiming for a tribute that’s both emotional and light-hearted, given Parton’s personality.
“I had the fortune of working with Dolly a couple of years ago,” he says. “We did a special together for CBS. I think that a lot of the tributes you see in the news sort of washed over her personality. She was quite salty and funny. She was just so funny about her physical appearance, about life, and so I think we want to, in part, capture that part of her personality, but she was also so giving and impactful and so musical and such a strong woman and presence that I think you want to acknowledge all sides of her. To be so famous, universally loved, and be so charitable, and musical, if there’s a way to recognize that in a handful of minutes, we’re going to try.”
Another big moment will come thanks to the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors, which will go to none other than Taylor Swift. Asked how this award came about, Toffler cites Swift’s estensive work behind the camera, directing her own videos for “The Fate of Ophelia,” “The Man,” “cardigan,” “willow,” “All Too Well: The Short Film,” “Anti-Hero,” “Bejeweled,” “Fortnight,” “I Can See You,” “Karma” and “Lavender Haze.” Swift has been nominated for the best director VMA a total of seven times, including this year for directing the video for “Opalite.”
“She manifested [this award] in the fact that she’s such a great artist in front and behind the camera that she keeps evolving and making great videos,” Toffler says. “How could we not recognize her for doing it all? They’re killer videos, and she’s exceptional.”
Serving as master of ceremonies for the entire shebang will be Snoop Dogg, who is not stranger to hosting duties given his past gigs co-hosting such events as NBC’s Olympics coverage.
“There’s no cooler human on the planet,” Toffler says. “He’s so facile with movie stars and music stars and celebrities and athletes. Everyone’s comfortable with him. I think that interplay with the performers will be a big part of the show.”
This year, the show returns to the West Coast for first time since 2017. It will be only two hours long, which Toffler says was a mutual decision between producers and network execs. “Do people need three hours of award shows? I don’t think they do. I mean, yes, can we fit more awards and performances? Of course we can, but you’ve watched awards shows recently that are 3-1/2 hours, and it’s like, ‘Damn, I needed every minute of that,'” he quips. “I think two hours of a kick-ass, fast-paced show is what people need.”
While producers aren’t planning any political moments, Toffler notes that the artists, presenters and winners could say anything during their time on camera. The show is knowns for its unscripted moments — from Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift‘s acceptance speech in 2009 to West declaring his run for president in 2015, along with other moments that don’t involve the rapper — and viewers could certainly see more of this come Sunday.
“Something happens on that stage that doesn’t really happen, even at other award shows, Oscars and Grammys, except for maybe The Slap,” Toffler notes. “I think we always encouraged artists to do what they wanted to do, and there was no kind of time limit. We didn’t kick them off the stage. I think the artists have continued to raise the bar for each other. And it’s this freedom they feel that you don’t know what to expect.”
Other performers at this year’s show include Shaboozey and Gunna. Madonna tops the nominees with 13, followed by Swift with 11, Sabrina Carpenter with nine, Ariana Grande with eight and Bruno Mars with seven. With Swift’s directing honor, she’ll have the most VMA wins of any solo artist.
Toffler, the CEO of indie studio Gunpowder & Sky, spent 28 years at MTV/Viacom and is credited with helping grow MTV into a cable success and turning the VMAs into a pop-culture event. After leaving MTV in 2015, Toffler co-founded Gunpowder & Sky with Floris Bauer in 2016. Last year, Toffler and Gunpowder & Sky returned to produce the show under a multiyear agreement.
With all that history, you would expect him to have some favorite VMA moments. Just not the moments you might expect, he admits.
“I have such warm, fuzzy feelings about bringing Florence + The Machine from the U.K. to the States [in 2010], and the way we staged that performance and how it broke her out in American music,” he shares. “That still resonates with me. I went back [through the archives] to do these packages with the best, breakthrough moments, and that feels like one of the top ones for me.”
Asked who he’d really like to land as a VMAs performer, he muses: “Elvis?” Of course, with today’s technology, maybe that isn’t so far-fetched. Quips Toffler: “I think in a couple of years, maybe he can come back for it.”
The 2026 VMAs, which are taking place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, will air Sunday (7:30-9:30 p.m. ET/4:30-6:30 p.m. PT) on CBS and MTV and stream on Paramount+ (Premium) in the U.S. It also will be available globally the next day on Paramount+ and MTV.
For anyone expecting the same-old cookie-cutter type of awards show, Toffler shoots that down by summing up this year’s show thusly: “This will be an atypical awards show, and it’ll be a fun ride.”
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