The 2021

MTV Europe Music Award The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

s were held on 14 November 2021 at the

László Papp Budapest Sports Arena The László Papp Budapest Sports Arena ( hu, Papp László Budapest Sportaréna), also known as Budapest Sports Arena or locally just Arena, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Budapest, Hungary. It is the second biggest sports complex in the cou ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. This marked the first time that Hungary hosted the awards show and as well the first event has been held in a former

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

country. The show was presented by American rapper

Saweetie Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper (born July 2, 1993), known professionally as Saweetie (), is an American rapper. After the release of her debut single "Icy Grl" in 2017, she was signed to her then-manager Max Gousse's record label Artistry Wo ...

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

led the nominations, with a total of eight, making him the most nominated male artist.

Doja Cat Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat ( ), is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began making and releasing music on SoundCloud as a teenager. Her song ...

and

Lil Nas X Montero Lamar Hill (born April 9, 1999), known by his stage name Lil Nas X ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his country rap single " Old Town Road", which first achieved viral popula ...

were both tied, with six nominations, with Doja being the most nominated female act.

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-pr ...

was the most nominated group and

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

act, while

Little Mix Little Mix are a British girl group, composed of group members Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards. Jesy Nelson was originally part of the group before she left in 2020. After becoming the first group to win the British ver ...

was the nominated female group. The category Best K-pop was introduced this year.

Performances

Appearances

*Becca Dudley – Pre-show co-host * Jack Saunders – Pre-show co-host *

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut studi ...

– presented Best Latin *

Winnie Harlow Chantelle Whitney Brown-Young (born July 27, 1994), known professionally as Winnie Harlow, is a Canadian fashion model and public spokesperson on the skin condition vitiligo. She gained prominence in 2014 as a contestant on the 21st cycle of th ...

– presented Best Hip-Hop *

Joel Corry Joel Corry (born 10 June 1989) is an English DJ, producer and television personality. He came to prominence in 2019 with the release of his single " Sorry", featuring vocals from Hayley May (who was not credited in the official music video), whi ...

– presented Best New *

Drew McIntyre Andrew McLean Galloway IV (born 6 June 1985) is a Scottish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Drew McIntyre. McIntyre is a two-time WWE Champion, one-time WWE I ...

– presented Best Rock *

Ryan Tedder Ryan Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. As well as being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic, he has an independent career as a songwriter and producer for various artists since th ...

– presented Best Song *

Manu Gavassi Manoela Latini Gavassi Francisco (born January 4, 1993), better known as Manu Gavassi, is a Brazilian singer, songwriter and actress. Early life Born and raised in São Paulo, she is the daughter of broadcaster and presenter Zé Luiz and psych ...

– presented Best Alternative *

Olly Alexander Oliver Alexander Thornton (born 15 July 1990) is a British singer and actor. He is best known as the lead singer of Years & Years and for his performance as Ritchie Tozer in the Channel 4 drama series, ''It's a Sin''. Early life Alexander w ...

– presented Best Video *

– presented Best Artist

Winners and nominations

Regional awards

Regional nominations were announced on 20 October 2021.

Controversy

After the decision to hold the MTV EMA in Budapest there has been criticism for the location, because of Hungary's decision to adopt laws against the LGBT community in June 2021. President and CEO of MTV Entertainment Group Worldwide Chris McCarthy explained that no censorship by the Hungarian government will be tolerated:

"As a gay man, my personal emotions got the better of me. After learning this legislation passed, my knee jerk reaction was that we should move the event to another country. However, I picked up the phone to connect with global LGBTQ+ advocates, ..and consulted our LGBTQ+ employee resource group, Emerge. The decision was very clear to all of us, ..we should not move the event. Instead, we should move forward, using the show as an opportunity to stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community in Hungary and around the world as we continue to fight for equality for all".

Performers included

Kim Petras Kim Petras (born 27 August 1992) is a German singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. Between 2016 and 2020, she released music as an independent artist under her own imprint, BunHead Records, before signing with Amigo and Republ ...

, as the first out trans performer at the VMAs, with an act that was intentionally raunchy and "

sex positive The sex-positive movement is a social and philosophical movement that seeks to change cultural attitudes and norms around sexuality, promoting the recognition of sexuality (in the countless forms of expression) as a natural and healthy part of the ...

" and who spoke out to say "It's going to be pretty powerful to be in Hungary and perform the show when these laws have just happened". Other artists were also given stage time to speak out against Hungarian anti-LGBTQ+ policies, including

and

. There were also announced five "Generation Change Awards", introduced by

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...

and honouring LGBTQ+ activists from

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

, with

Budapest Pride Budapest Pride, or Budapest Pride Film and Cultural Festival, is Hungary's largest annual LGBT event. Of the week-long festival, the march is the most visible event. The march has historically been known under several names, including ''Budapest G ...

organiser Viktória Radványi accepting the award in person; the other honourees were Amir Ashour, founder of IraQueer; Matthew Blaise, founder of The Oasis Project in Nigeria; Sage Dolan-Sandrino, an Afro-Cuban queer and trans artist from the United States; and Erika Hilton, the first Black trans woman elected to the

Municipal Chamber of São Paulo The Municipal Chamber of São Paulo is the unicameral legislative body of the city of São Paulo, it was created in 1560 by the Governor General Mem de Sá and is one of the oldest in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative ...

References

{{MTV Europe Music Awards, state=collapsed

mtv MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

2021 in Hungary November 2021 events in Hungary Events in Budapest