Culture

The 2026 VMA nominations are led by Madonna, Taylor Swift, and Sabrina Carpenter, with critics noting Black artists were mostly confined to genre-specific categories like Hip-Hop rather than the top awards. Real bias, or just how the year's biggest hits shook out?

Nominations for the September 27, 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, announced in August, drew criticism from outlets like Ebony and The Fader after Video of the Year and other top categories featured just — Reflects a real pattern of exclusion 0%, Just reflects this year's biggest releases 50%, Some of both 50% (2 votes so far).