You can go home again, at least part-time, as former MTV Networks head Van Toffler proved when he came back in 2025 as the producer of the MTV Video Music Awards. Heโs back in the saddle for a second year in 2026, as the two-hour telecast enjoys its second year in a row with a prime-time spot on CBS. He and the show are are already generating much greater buzz in this reprise, between Snoop Dogg hosting, the return of Madonna after a 23-year absence, Taylor Swift premiering a new music video, star-studded tributes to Dolly Parton and George Michael, a Nirvana lifetime honor and worthy young performers like Lisa, Raye and Sienna Spiro.
But speaking of home, are the VMAsโ home where the heart is? The show is being broadcast from L.A.โs Peacock Theater this year โ the first time the show has emanated from the west coast since 2017, when it was aired from the Forum. It was his call to bring it back from New York and New Jersey, in part because he felt the downtown L.A. location was more convenient for a lot of talent, but also because of the old friend heโs employing as host. Toffler, whose regular job is now as CEO of the production company Gunpowder & Sky, talked with Variety in the run-up to the show.
This is your second year back in the driverโs seat of the VMAs. With no slight intended toward last year, it feels like this has got a lot more heat on it.
I agree wholeheartedly with that statement. This show feels like itโs got a bit of everything: old, young, all genres and from Snoop to Madonna to Lisa and Raye and Sienna Spiro to Nirvana getting the Video Vanguard Award and a tribute to George Michael.
I actually want to watch this year, which is saying a lot for me and awards shows.
Amen. Itโs only two hours. So come on. Are you based in L.A. or New York? โฆ L.A.? So youโll be done by 6:30!
WIth Madonna opening the show, itโs hard to believe itโs been 23 years since she was on the show. And sheโs synonymous with the VMAs, but it must just be synonymous for those of us with long memories, if itโs been almost a quarter-century since she did it last.
Well, look, we can deny it as much as we want, but Madonna is the M in MTV. I knew it the day I started there. She is the queen of MTV. She makes great videos. Sheโs provocative. She always pushed us, and this yearโs performance will be no exception.
Are you able to talk about what sheโll be doing?
We are not talking about that one yet. Sheโll be doing a performance with special guests.
Taylor is having a big news cycle, with her expanded album coming out two days before the awards. And youโre giving her the Artist Director Honor. Will she be the climax of the show?
Well, look, hopefullyโฆ Taylor is nominated a lot in the show. Thereโs this inaugural award that recognizes her artistry, her evolution as an artist from in front of the camera, and as songwriter, to behind the camera. Sheโs an exceptional talent and there should be a whole bunch of Taylor Swift mentions throughout the show.
We know youโre not authorized to say whether sheโll be there or not to receive her award (or awards).
Right. [This interview was conducted before Swift revealed she was premiering her โPatient Zeroโ music video on the telecaast.]
But obviously the honorary award would not be happening if she wasnโt taking part in some way.
That was rhetorical, right?
Sure. But youโre allowed to nod. Anyway, itโs an interesting award because obviously this was created for Taylor, because she has had such an amazing run of directing her own videos. But โinauguralโ suggests more to come. So are there enough people who direct their own videos that there will be a second one at some point? Not many stars have her directing track record.
I donโt know. It may be one and done. She is such a unique talent that who knows if thereโs another one of these. But her evolution as an artist is akin to some of my favorite artists โ like, look at what the Beatles did in six years, or one of my favorite Brit artists, Paul Weller, going from the Jam to Style Council to his solo stuff. When I was running MTV Networks, she first started on CMT with the video โTim McGraw.โ And then a couple years later, in 2009, we put her on the VMAs with โYou Belong With Me.โ And she does folk, she does country, she does all kinds of genres, and sheโs so facile and great in all of it, and look at her live performances. So it felt like acknowledging her talent as a director was a no-brainer.
Can you say what the climax of the show will be?
I think there will be climaxes in every act, to tell you the truth. Thatโs kind of how we plan this as producers. We like to, as, as producers, kind of give the artists all the tools, shut the doors, throw in some lighter fluid, maybe toss a match in and say, โAll right, kids, go do what you need to do.โ And I think that there will be moments in almost every act.
But as far as the actual ending of the showโฆ
If people hold out till the endโฆ Thereโll be a couple of things we wonโt announce. And weโre still mapping out the show.
Can you talk about the Dolly and George Michael and Nirvana moments?
Kacey Musgraves will do the musical performance for Dolly, but thereโll be other elements of the tribute just recognizing Dollyโs impact in music and culture. Raye and Teddy Swims will be part of the George Michael tribute, singing some of his most iconic songs. Thereโs a movie coming out with a lot of exclusive concert footage of George thatโs coming out later in the year, and itโs 40 years since โFaithโ and itโs 10 years since George died, and those songs are timeless. And we have a bunch of artists on the show who love George Michael, so why not take advantage?
Nirvanaโs gonna get the Video Vanguard Award, which is the highest award MTV gives to artists. Frankly, you know, Iโd been gone from MTV for a while, and I was shocked that they hadnโt received it to date. So Iโm so happy that we get to give it to them and recognize their impact in music video and music overall.
Letโs talk more about you being back here on the west coast. It seemed like the movie to New York was a permanent one. Weโve felt slighted out here for quite a number of years, figuring we were just always going to be the leftover coast as well as the left coast.
You know you didnโt care!
Honest to Godโฆ
No, itโs fun in L.A. I think itโs easier on talent, to tell you the truth. And Iโm back and itโs just kind ofโฆ I missed it. Iโm happy weโre back in L.A., downtown.
Is there anything different about the energy in L.A. than New York, which likes to think of itself as the energy capital of the world?
Well, look, hereโs the thing. We have the mayor of L.A. hosting the show: Snoop, whoโs the most beloved citizen of this community. Everyone adores him, and heโs never lost his cool. From hip-hop to sports to country and pop, everyone loves Snoop.
Has Snoop hosted a lot of things before?
Not really, though he and I did do โDoggy Fizzle Televizzleโ at MTV [a 2002 sketch comedy series]. And we tried a โlate night after darkโ show in the heart of Hollywood many years ago [โDogg After Dark,โ in 2009]. Heโs fun as hell and just the best. So I think L.A. and Snoop is a lethal combo.
This is a CBS show now, and of course itโs also simulcast on MTV, but as we all know, MTV doesnโt really do music videos anymore. Will it just become the CBS VMAs someday?
I donโt think so. The DNA of the VMAs has kind of got its own ecosystem, but it is so closely associated with MTV and the history of music video, and I donโt think that will go away.
How are you feeling now in year two about being back, and part of that ecosystem again, as you put it?
You know, I was there at MTV for a couple of decades. I left in 2015. I came back to the VMAs because theyโve allowed me to pursue some IP that was near and dear to me. In return theyโve asked me to come back and produce the VMAs now that theyโve expanded to CBS and Paramount and MTV, and try to bring as much mayhem back as possible. And candidly, my studio, Gunpowder and Sky, we make movies and documentaries. We have FAST channels and podcasts and specials, but thereโs nothing like live television. Anything can go wrong, right? Itโs such a wonderful high, and this show to me is, I think, the most fun, borderline-chaotic musical show on TV on an annual basis. So Iโm fired up to get back in the truck and have artists screaming over my shoulder about what a hack I am. I canโt wait.
So much of the stuff youโve worked on with Gunpowder and Sky has been so enjoyable. Can you say what the IP is that you are pursuing with them?
Oh, thatโll probably come out in the next several months. But thank you for your compliment about the Gunpowder and Sky stuff.
Whatโs the most important reason for doing this as a two-hour show? Is it knowing people have short attention spans, or does it make it easier to get multiple viewing slots in on the west coast, orโฆ why does the two hours work?
Let me ask you this. Have you or anybody you know begged for more time for an awards show? โDamn, I wish that was longer?โ I think you can really do a lot of damage in two hours, make it fast-paced, get to the awards. Of course, thereโll be awards off-camera that people will get, but two hours seems like enough to me. I think a three-and-a-half-hour show can put some people to sleep, and two is a nice, tight timeframe for an awards show.
โThree-and-a-half hoursโ even takes a long time to say. But CBS likes two hours? Because they certainly run their share of much longer awards shows.
I think so, until cut to next year where itโs five hours. But everyone likes the two-hour format.
About The Author
