Snoop Dogg Says He Turned Down the VMAs Until They Moved to L.A.

Hosting at the Peacock Theater, he joked the show came west for him, then promised every winner some 'sticky icky.'

Snoop Dogg hosted the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday and told the crowd the show came back west because of him.

It was a bit, and a good one. In his opening monologue at the Peacock Theater, the 54-year-old said MTV's first call got a firm no, Billboard reported: "When they first asked me to host this award show, I said, 'Is it gonna be in L.A.?' I said, 'No? Well, I'm busy.'" In his version, the network rang back to tell him the show was in L.A. now.

The joke lands because the move is real. The VMAs had lived on the East Coast since 2018, according to Billboard. That made this year's ceremony the first in years staged in the city Snoop calls his own.

Then he promised the biggest party the show had ever thrown, and he brought a party favor. "It wouldn't be a Snoop Dogg party if I didn't provide some of that special sticky icky icky," he said, before making clear it was meant for every winner in the room.

From the Doggfather, that's a promise.

He called Madonna and Taylor Swift among his favorite people in the building, then wrapped with a Deez Nuts knock-knock joke, which is about as much stand-up as anybody at an awards show needs.

Madonna had already kicked off the night. It was her first VMAs performance since 2003, The Hollywood Reporter reported. She brought out Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX for "Bring Your Love" and "Danceteria Afterhours."

She walked in with 13 nominations, the most of any artist this year, CBS News reported.

Pitchfork noted that Sombr, Julia Garner and Seth Rogen also turned up, Rogen smoking a joint, which made Snoop's gift to the winners look less like a gag and more like a theme.

If you were watching from your couch in L.A., you saw all of it late. The Peacock Theater crowd got the Madonna opener on time. On TV, the MTV and CBS broadcast sat behind a Ravens-Cowboys game that ran past the show's 4:30 p.m. Pacific start, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

The VMAs finally came home, and the hometown audience watching on TV waited on football from Baltimore and Dallas.

Swift had her own moment later in the night. She premiered the video for "Patient Zero," with Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell, while accepting the first Artist Director Honors, The Wrap reported.

Snoop's history with the show goes back a long way. His first VMAs performance came in 1993, when he did "Murder Was the Case" from Doggystyle. Thirty-three years later, he was hosting it in his own town, telling everyone he'd only agreed to do it here.

Source: yahoo.com, retrieved September 28, 2026.