{"id":9290,"date":"2025-09-09T06:32:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T06:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/9290\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T06:32:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T06:32:07","slug":"gagas-exit-sabrinas-trans-rights-sign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/9290\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaga’s Exit, Sabrina’s Trans Rights Sign"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWhat does the morning after the VMAs feel like? A splitting headache for Van Toffler, producer of the 2025 show<\/a>, which aired on CBS for the first time, in addition to MTV<\/a> and Paramount+. The veteran television producer and former head of MTV has had a front-row seat to dozens of awards shows, and he knows the intricacies and complications involved with coordinating 13 performances.<\/p>\n

\n\tToffler spoke with Rolling Stone about the night\u2019s standout moments, including Mariah Carey<\/a>\u2018s hits medley, Sabrina Carpenter<\/a>\u2018s rain-soaked \u201cTears,\u201d Lady Gaga<\/a>\u2018s rapid exit from Madison Square Garden, and the emotional tribute<\/a> to Ozzy Osbourne<\/a> featuring Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Yungblud, and Extreme\u2019s Nuno Bettencourt.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat are the challenges these days with award shows? You need to get the big-name talent, but you also need to showcase who\u2019s coming up. And these productions are very expensive. How do you weigh all those things to get the best lineup?
The first thing is you have to be is rabid about researching and understanding who your audience is. And for this show, unlike others, it traversed multiple platforms with different demographics because you have MTV, CBS, and Paramount+. That really merited going from hit iconic artists with catalogs to brand-new artists.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou saw LL Cool J host in the first act, and then introduce Kenny G performing with Doja Cat into the expanded play stage with Lola Young. And you have Gaga in between winning an award. So that\u2019s kind of a microcosm of what you\u2019d like to do, where you bring out new acts with emerging songs. You don\u2019t just spring them on the audience.<\/p>\n

\n\tTalents like Sombr<\/a> and Conan Gray<\/a> and Megan Moroney<\/a> are so wonderful that you want to expose them on the big stage. But you can\u2019t just have a show of new acts, just like you can\u2019t just have a show of established acts. It is a balance. Who\u2019s got the biggest songs of the year, like Sabrina [Carpenter] and Tate [McRae], who are great performers, and who are some heritage acts that get these iconic awards? It definitely is a delicate dance.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd also, where do you format them in the show? How you juxtapose one versus the other? It\u2019s a mixture of art and science, because you also have to see the performances and rehearsals to understand. \u201cDoes this go next to this one?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWere there people you wanted to get that you couldn\u2019t get?
Oh, undoubtedly, absolutely.<\/p>\n

\n\tJustin Bieber? Taylor Swift?
Beyonc\u00e9, Bieber \u2026 Taylor\u2019s not in cycle, so, you know, she\u2019s done so many MTV awards when she is in cycle. It just didn\u2019t feel right. But Miley\u2019s putting out new music, and \u2026 I\u2019m trying to think of others that I would have loved to have had. I wanted to have Harry Styles and Stevie Nicks perform together. So, you know, you shoot for the moon. Some people are recording or out of cycle. You pull together the best show you can, and the best of the year.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith the Sabrina Carpenter<\/a> performance, there seemed to be some messaging in her staging. Were you aware of that?
Oh, yeah, definitely. There was messaging, and then there was a sexy performance with water. So I\u2019m not sure it all got through, but I\u2019m sure her fans will read well into it, accurately and inaccurately.<\/p>\n

\n\tWas it intentional to cut away from the \u201ctrans rights\u201d sign?
No, no, I think it\u2019s just a director making choices. That\u2019s all.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was so interesting that therapy got so many shout-outs during the show. These kids who have so much pressure, I don\u2019t know how they get through a day, never mind the VMAs.
We noticed it. It is generational that so many of these young artists would thank their therapists. So many of these artists are confronted with daily pressures to make their lives seem great. And they have to live on socials. There\u2019s no real downtime. And we talked about it. I can imagine 20 years ago, artists thanking their therapist would be like, \u201cYou\u2019re in therapy, dude? Are you kidding me?\u201d So it is definitely generational.<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was cool that Ariana Grande read out all the credits of her video. I\u2019ve never seen that happen before.
I can honestly say in my memory, and I don\u2019t have a good one, but that may be the only time craft services have been thanked.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat really meant a lot, actually, from an industry standpoint. It was very smart.
She doesn\u2019t come out a lot. She really doesn\u2019t do a lot of these things, and she\u2019s filming a movie. I think obviously she was nominated a lot, but she\u2019s got a warm spot for Mariah. I think that helped bring her out to this stage.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat was up with the microphone? It wasn\u2019t one that drops into the stage and adjusts for height?
Not all productions go smoothly. I think that her mic was definitely too high. We used a lot of handheld mics. Those mics on stands tend to get in the way of a performer\u2019s face. We don\u2019t love them, but obviously we needed them for the award presentations. But it\u2019s a lesson learned. We\u2019ll have it come from the ceiling next time, if there is a next time.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a legit situation. We did an article<\/a> in Variety where we talked to stage hands about it. Sometimes you have a LeBron James and then Sabrina Carpenter. The height difference is massive.
Oh, my God. You really need to overprepare for that stuff. The thing is, someone like Steven Tyler just keeps adjusting his mic, no matter where you put it. It\u2019s never the right height, let\u2019s put it that way.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou know who wasn\u2019t good at holding a microphone? Meg Stalter. That microphone hit her entire face.
I think she maybe had an issue with her ankle beforehand and was having trouble walking. She had a rough evening. But she\u2019s funny. She\u2019s a funny woman.<\/p>\n

\n\tTell me about coordinating Gaga and getting her out to Long Island from Madison Square Garden.
God, what a shit show. She had to leave the Garden, come to our event. She literally got to the security door, I don\u2019t know, three minutes before the show started.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd obviously, she had to glam up, get in that ensemble, and then get onstage when she won the award. Then she had to have a police escort take her back to the Garden. They delayed the start of her show at MSG the prior night. So it was a logistical situation.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow did you handle the singing live versus singing to a track with all the dancing? Mariah especially seemed to get some flak for that.
That\u2019s a dealer\u2019s choice in a way. In no way do we dictate what an artist should or can or can\u2019t do. Quite often there\u2019s tracks and they sing along to a track or a live band. It\u2019s really what the artist thinks they\u2019re capable of doing based on the dancing they\u2019re doing and the physical movement they\u2019re doing. Some are more comfortable with the tracks. Some are just more comfortable doing live because they tour a lot. That\u2019s really on the artist.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhich performance took the longest to put together or was most challenging logistically?
Probably the most tender and rewarding one was the Ozzy tribute. You\u2019ve got a family in mourning. You\u2019ve got an iconic musician. You\u2019ve got people that you may think are appropriate or disciples of Black Sabbath and Ozzy, but that\u2019s not what Ozzy would have felt or the family would have felt. And so there was a lot of coordination with the family on the musicians and the songs that were selected. That probably was, again, the most rewarding and the most arduous one of the bunch.<\/p>\n

\n\tDid you hear from the family in the last 12 hours?
No, but I know that Jack, on behalf of Sharon and the family, was really happy with the musicians and understanding what tracks they were doing. I haven\u2019t heard from them after the fact, but they were all involved in the process.<\/p>\n

\n\tI really thought that looked tremendous. There was this one shot of Yungblud where he was bending over that could not have been choreographed any better with the the lights and the guitars. It was incredible.
I may be completely off-base on this, but as a person who loves music and has been around music most of my life, people are yearning for a live rock moment. Look at the fervor around Oasis<\/a>. I was around when we tried to break Oasis in the States and no one gave a crap. And now it\u2019s euphoric.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat else was complicated or involved a lot of feedback from the artist creatively?
Tate McRae<\/a> had a bunch of different elements, but the heavy use of water and cleaning the stage with Sabrina was a big, big lift. And Doja Cat\u2019s set was kind of funky to turn around. And then particularly when we told everyone, \u201cOh, Kenny G\u2019s going to be on the staircase.\u201d They\u2019re kind of like, \u201cWhat?\u201d That\u2019s the way we felt too. But, hey, that\u2019s just almost a perfect combo of artists, Doja Cat and Kenny G. That\u2019s kind of what should happen every day.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t2025 VMAs producer Van Toffler<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRich Fury\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m sure every time they\u2019re like, \u201cWe\u2019d like 22 dancers,\u201d you\u2019re like, \u201cStop with the dancers!\u201d
Right. This may seem critical, but even for some of the younger artists, if you\u2019ve got the chops and the songs and you can sing, just come on and sing, right? You don\u2019t have to create a music video. When you perform, I think it\u2019s good enough to show the world you\u2019ve got the chops.<\/p>\n

\n\tDid you hear from the people about the ICE commercials and the Department of Corrections ones?
Yeah, someone told me. Was it one that led right into the show?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt felt like almost every other break was an ICE commercial or Department of Corrections. It felt like the police state was here.
This is on CBS and local TV.<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah.
Obviously, I have no idea or nor do I control any of the commercials. But that doesn\u2019t make me feel good.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s a successful VMAs to you? Is it ratings? Is it the feedback? What is it?
Where does it register in the cultural zeitgeist? Are there memorable performances? Are there moments people talk about? For me, what is maybe most important is, \u201cIs it connecting to audiences?\u201d And not just on linear TV. I think we\u2019re probably gonna find out later today that there are over a billion views of VMA content. Let me say that again, one billion views. That is astronomical, maybe the biggest in history if that\u2019s the case.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s hard to get a 15-year-old to watch linear television, no matter what you do. You can have a live execution. They\u2019re not gonna watch it. They\u2019re gonna watch what they wanna watch on the platforms that they connect with on their mobile or YouTube.<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tI know we live in a business where things are measured a certain way. And people don\u2019t always connect the dots, and they don\u2019t always monetize these views, but typically, money follows eyeballs. But if the content is that meaningful and connects in that way in such a grand scale, that is a story to me. Regardless of whether you do 8 million or 10 million people on linear TV, if you\u2019re getting over a billion views, then music still resonates, these performances resonate. And that was important to me in coming back to do the gig.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was a big deal to have it on CBS.
Yeah, that\u2019s right. They took a big swing as a company. It\u2019s like, we\u2019re the adults now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What does the morning after the VMAs feel like? A splitting headache for Van Toffler, producer of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,6552,7123,278,6542,1834,8421,9699],"class_list":{"0":"post-9290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-lady-gaga","12":"tag-mtv","13":"tag-music","14":"tag-ozzy-osbourne","15":"tag-sabrina-carpenter","16":"tag-tate-mcrae","17":"tag-video-marketing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}