The 2019 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 26, 2019, at the Prudential Center in Newark, being the first VMA ceremony to be held in New Jersey. Sebastian Maniscalco hosted the 36th annual ceremony. Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and Billie Eilish were the most awarded with three each. Missy Elliott became the first female rapper to win the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. The show was broadcast on a variety of Viacom-owned networks, as well as their respective websites, and apps through TV Everywhere authentication. 2019 MTV Video Music Awards won the 2020 Webby Award for Events in the category Social.
A variety of presenters appeared at the pre-show and main ceremony.
The nominees for most categories were revealed on July 23, 2019. Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift had the most nominations with ten followed by Billie Eilish with nine and Lil Nas X received eight while two new categories were included: Best K-Pop and Video for Good (previously "Video with a Message"). On August 19, three more categories were announced: Best Group, Best Power Anthem, and Song of Summer. The new categories increased the nominations for Grande and Swift to twelve each, Eilish to ten, and Lil Nas X to nine.
Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.