Johnny Depp makes a surprise appearance at the MTV VMAs – with Taylor Swift and Harry Styles among the big winners | Ents & Arts News

Johnny Depp made a surprise appearance at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards – telling the audience he “needed the job” as he was thrown onto the stage as the channel’s famous astronaut Moon Man mascot.

The actor and musician opened the ceremony at an evening which saw the British star Harry Styles, Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj among the big winners.

DeppThe show’s appearance marks the latest step in a return to the public sphere since winning his multimillion-dollar lawsuit against his ex-wife. Amber Heard.

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He later said he was available for “birthdays, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, weddings, revivals, whatever you need…anything” – adding: “Oh, I am also a dentist.

Swift and Styles have both won multiple awards — and she used one of her acceptance speeches to announce a new album.

Referring to how she is re-recording his old records as part of a move to regain control of his back catalogshe told the crowd, “I’m so honored to have been recognized alongside such incredible artists and directors.

“For the first time in VMAs history, four of the directors in the Video of the Year category are women.

“You guys, I’m so proud of what we did and every second of this moment and we couldn’t have made this short without the fans.

“I couldn’t re-record my albums if it wasn’t for you…you embolden me to do it.”

She continued, “Because you’ve been so generous, I thought it would be a fun time to tell you that my brand new album is coming out on October 21.”

Sharing details later on social media, Swift revealed that the album will be called Midnights, “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life”, and will be released in October.

Swift won awards including Best Video and Best Long Form Video for All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor Version), which features Stranger Things star Sadie Sink and Teen Wolf star Dylan O ‘Brien and went viral earlier in 2022 as fans speculated about the song‘s meaning.

Her best video win makes her the only artist in history to win the award three times, following previous wins for Bad Blood in 2015 and You Need to Calm Down in 2019.

Styles won awards including album of the year, for Harry’s House, and best pop for the single As It Was, but did not appear at the ceremony in person.

He apologized for his absence as he was “just down the road” as he is on tour in the United States. The awards ceremony in Newark, New Jersey, clashed with a performance at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Other awards went to Bad Bunny, who was named Artist of the Year; Dove Cameron, who won Best New Artist, and Billie Eilish, whose track Happier Than Ever was honored as Song of the Year.

Former Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie was the first performer of the evening, singing her hit song Glamorous with one of the evening’s co-hosts, Jack Harlow.

Moments later, Harlow received the first gong of the night, for Best Collaboration, alongside Lil Nas X for their track Industry Baby.

Hip hop stars LL Cool J and Nicki Minaj also presented.

Minaj performed a medley of her songs and was named the winner of the Vanguard of the Night Award, a lifetime achievement award named after Michael Jackson.

The rapper mentioned Jackson in her acceptance speech, saying, “I wish Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson were here. I wish people understood what they meant and what they were going through. J ‘d like people to take mental health seriously, even for people who you think have had perfect lives.”

Elsewhere, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were named the winners of Global Icons and also scooped Best Rock.

The band’s bassist, Flea, paid tribute to the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

“There’s another musical legend and his name is Taylor Hawkins…I miss him everyday,” he told the audience. “Fly on my brother.”

Rap legends Eminem and Snoop Dogg were also among the performers, giving a “metaverse” rendition of their collaborative track From The D 2 The LBC.