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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. He’s 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 VMAs’ home where the heart is? The show is being broadcast from L.A.’s Peacock Theater this year — 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 he’s 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 driver’s 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 it’s 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. It’s only two hours. So come on. Are you based in L.A. or New York? … L.A.? So you’ll be done by 6:30!
WIth Madonna opening the show, it’s hard to believe it’s been 23 years since she was on the show. And she’s synonymous with the VMAs, but it must just be synonymous for those of us with long memories, if it’s 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. She’s provocative. She always pushed us, and this year’s performance will be no exception.
Are you able to talk about what she’ll be doing?
We are not talking about that one yet. She’ll 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 you’re giving her the Artist Director Honor. Will she be the climax of the show?
Well, look, hopefully… Taylor is nominated a lot in the show. There’s 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. She’s an exceptional talent and there should be a whole bunch of Taylor Swift mentions throughout the show.
We know you’re not authorized to say whether she’ll be there or not to receive her award (or awards).
Right. [This interview was conducted before Swift revealed she was premiering her “Patient Zero” music video on the telecaast.]
But obviously the honorary award would not be happening if she wasn’t taking part in some way.
That was rhetorical, right?
Sure. But you’re allowed to nod. Anyway, it’s an interesting award because obviously this was created for Taylor, because she has had such an amazing run of directing her own videos. But “inaugural” 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 don’t know. It may be one and done. She is such a unique talent that who knows if there’s another one of these. But her evolution as an artist is akin to some of my favorite artists — 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 “Tim McGraw.” And then a couple years later, in 2009, we put her on the VMAs with “You Belong With Me.” And she does folk, she does country, she does all kinds of genres, and she’s 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. That’s 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, “All right, kids, go do what you need to do.” And I think that there will be moments in almost every act.
But as far as the actual ending of the show…
If people hold out till the end… There’ll be a couple of things we won’t announce. And we’re 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 there’ll be other elements of the tribute just recognizing Dolly’s impact in music and culture. Raye and Teddy Swims will be part of the George Michael tribute, singing some of his most iconic songs. There’s a movie coming out with a lot of exclusive concert footage of George that’s coming out later in the year, and it’s 40 years since “Faith” and it’s 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?
Nirvana’s gonna get the Video Vanguard Award, which is the highest award MTV gives to artists. Frankly, you know, I’d been gone from MTV for a while, and I was shocked that they hadn’t received it to date. So I’m so happy that we get to give it to them and recognize their impact in music video and music overall.
Let’s talk more about you being back here on the west coast. It seemed like the movie to New York was a permanent one. We’ve 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 didn’t care!
Honest to God…
No, it’s fun in L.A. I think it’s easier on talent, to tell you the truth. And I’m back and it’s just kind of… I missed it. I’m happy we’re 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, here’s the thing. We have the mayor of L.A. hosting the show: Snoop, who’s the most beloved citizen of this community. Everyone adores him, and he’s 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 “Doggy Fizzle Televizzle” at MTV [a 2002 sketch comedy series]. And we tried a “late night after dark” show in the heart of Hollywood many years ago [“Dogg After Dark,” in 2009]. He’s 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 it’s also simulcast on MTV, but as we all know, MTV doesn’t really do music videos anymore. Will it just become the CBS VMAs someday?
I don’t 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 don’t 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 they’ve allowed me to pursue some IP that was near and dear to me. In return they’ve asked me to come back and produce the VMAs now that they’ve 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 there’s nothing like live television. Anything can go wrong, right? It’s 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 I’m fired up to get back in the truck and have artists screaming over my shoulder about what a hack I am. I can’t wait.
So much of the stuff you’ve worked on with Gunpowder and Sky has been so enjoyable. Can you say what the IP is that you are pursuing with them?
Oh, that’ll probably come out in the next several months. But thank you for your compliment about the Gunpowder and Sky stuff.
What’s 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, or… 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? “Damn, I wish that was longer?” I think you can really do a lot of damage in two hours, make it fast-paced, get to the awards. Of course, there’ll 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.
“Three-and-a-half hours” 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 it’s five hours. But everyone likes the two-hour format.
