The host and presenters of the 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards imparted messages of self-love and care to their millions of viewers.
Zachary Levi hosted this year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards that was broadcasted on the iconic channel last night. The awards ceremony was filmed at The Barker Hangar theater in Santa Monica, CA.
Levi opened the show with a witty monologue, and shouted out Sandra Bullock and Dwayne “The Rock,” Johnson, both who won awards later on. He then told the story of his fourteen-year-old self, who he said was “nerdy,” and insecure.
“If you’re like fourteen-year-old me and you’re sitting and watching at home thinking that maybe you’ll love yourself, one day if you can finally be somewhere here,” Levi said as he gestured to the notable MTV stage, “Stop doing that and start loving yourself, right there, right now. It’ll change your life and it’ll change the world. I guarantee that.”
Gal Gadot presented the first award, “Most Frightened Performance,” to Sandra Bullock for the 2018 Netflix film, Birdbox.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was then honored with the annual Generation Award. A video compiled his film performances, voice acting in Moana, WWE wins and work as a producer. Johnson gave an inspiring speech to young viewers.
Paying homage to his black and Samoan heritage, Johnson said, “I wasn’t going to conform to Hollywood, Hollywood was going to conform to me” as he spoke of his acting beginnings.
He then encouraged viewers to be kind, and to “bring everybody with you,” when experiencing success. He closed his speech with a quote he loved in his teenage years, “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
The Knockturnal’s cover star Shameik Moore presented Best Host to Nick Cannon for his shows, Wild ‘N Out and The Masked Singer.
Accomplished rapper, singer and flautist, Lizzo granted the audience with the first musical performance of the evening. With a live rendition of the song “Juice,” from her acclaimed 2019 album, Cuz I Love You, Lizzo kept the theme of self-love alive with empowering lyrics.
The Bachelor’s Colton Underwood won the award for Most Meme-able Moment for jumping a fence during his season earlier this year.
Nick Kroll and RuPaul’s Drag Race star Trixie Mattel gave the award for Reality Royalty to the cast of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta.
Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista presented Best Fight to Brie Larson for her performance in Captain Marvel. Larson gave the award to the two stunt doubles who trained her, honoring them for their work, and granting them each time to speak.
Tiffany Haddish presented the Trailblazer award to Jada Pinkett Smith for her entertainment and philanthropic career that spans over two decades.
Pinkett Smith’s work on Red Table Talk was one reason she earned the award, as Haddish said, “She’s not making a talk show, she’s making a show with real talk.” A video compilation of Pinkett Smith’s work was shown, along with clips from Alicia Keys and Queen Latifah praising her accomplishments.
Pinkett Smith told each viewer that they were a trailblazer in her moving speech. She said to “challenge internal obstacles,” as every person has them, and is a trailblazer for conquering self-doubt daily.
Dan Levy and Annie Murphy presented Best Performance in a Movie to Lady Gaga for A Star is Born, and accepted the award in her absence.
Kiernan Shipka, Ross Lynch and Gavin Leatherwood presented the award for Best Kiss to Lana Condor and Noah Centineo for their scenes in the 2018 Netflix film, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Condor honored Pride Month by saying, “Kiss who you want to kiss, love who you want to love. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Jameela Jamil and MJ Rodriguez presented the award for Best Documentary to Surviving R. Kelly, honoring the survivors of the R&B artist’s sexual abuse.
#SurvivingRKelly won Best Documentary at the #MTVAwards, and executive producer Brie Miranda Bryant stressed "the power of numbers" https://t.co/LUqzZ6osny pic.twitter.com/t8cO89vJQR
— MTV NEWS (@MTVNEWS) June 18, 2019
Best Show was awarded to Game of Thrones. Jacob Anderson accepted the award from Josh Horowitz.
The cast of Euphoria welcomed Bazzi as the second musical guest. He performed his 2019 single “Paradise,” live.
Haley Lu Richardson then presented Best Performance in a Show to Elizabeth Moss for her work in The Handmaid’s Tale.
Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo and Noah Schnapp presented Breakthrough Performance to Noah Centineo for his performance in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.
David Spade and Aubrey Plaza presented Best Comedic Performance to Dan Levy from Schitt’s Creek. He also honored Pride Month in his acceptance speech.
Tessa Thompson presented Best Movie to Avengers: Endgame. Co-director Anthony Russo honored the late Marvel comic book writer, Stan Lee in his speech. Video clips of Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr. were also shown, as they were not in attendance to accept the award.
Zachary Levi closed the 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards with a parting message, “Love yourself, love yourself, love yourself,” he said to everyone watching, “You are worthy of that love.”
