While almost three dozen fan-voted honors were given out at the American Music Awards on Monday, only a small handful made it to the two-hour live broadcast — the same can be said for the best moments of the evening. The Hollywood Reporter was there for the celebrity run-ins, secret conversations and head-scratching sights before and during the ceremony in Sin City.
JLo’s Encore
After an opening medley where she danced for six minutes to 23 hit songs and engaged in sultry smooches with both male and female dancers, Jennifer Lopez wrapped a night of hosting at the 2025 American Music Awards by unveiling plans for a new Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. As the curtain fell, she announced via Instagram that “Up All Night Live in Las Vegas” will open New Year’s Eve week with four shows and an additional eight in March 2026. This long-rumored return is the follow-up to the “All I Have” residency at Planet Hollywood (which ran 2016–18). After the AMAs, JLo posted videos from the top deck of a party bus as she cruised the Strip, with a great view of her new Caesars Palace marquee.
MGK’s Big Tease (and Early Exit)
Before the show, Machine Gun Kelly, a last-minute addition to the AMA talent roster, revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that he has big news on the horizon. “I have the most exciting album announcement— album title announcement — I’ve ever had in my career. You will see why when it happens; it is the biggest stamp of approval I’ve ever gotten and I honestly don’t even know how it occurred, but musically, I will continue to stretch the mind in ways that will be painful for some and relieving for others and my fans just have to trust me,” says the artist who just debuted the single “Cliché” last week, which elicited a love/hate reaction from social media. “I can usually always call when something’s gonna move the needle. I knew it would. I knew it would come with a lot of love and a lot of hate,” he says of the response. “I don’t even think that hate is rooted in anything real. It’s controversial, and I fucking love it.”
MGK was supposed to present with Heidi Klum but left right after the red carpet to be with his two-month-old daughter, who had a fever. Before his departure, MGK shared a secretive moment with Jon Batiste on the press line, as the two whispered in each other’s ears for an extended time.
Project Runway Reveals
Klum walked the carpet with 19-year-old son Henry and reflected on the upcoming 21st season of Project Runway, which will debut in July with stylist Law Roach as a judge. “I don’t think there has ever been as much bleeping on the show. He really wears his heart on his sleeve, but he also curses a lot, so there’s gonna be a lot of bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep,” Klum says. “Christian Siriano, he’s like Tim Gunn. I miss Tim because I’ve been doing [the show] with him for 17 years.” And outfitted in what could’ve been a Project Runway creation, Rebecca Black, Katy Perry’s opener on the Lifetimes Tour, DJed the official AMA after party. She understood the assignment and was dressed ready for the “Wedding Capital of the World” in a wedding dress.
Carpet Chatter
During a photo, Kehlani embraced Sandra Denton from Salt-N-Pepa, calling her an icon. Her glam squad accompanied Denton. She told THR that even Salt-N-Pepa won’t be inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame until November, she has already given some thought to her speech. “There are certain things I want to say with this one,” she says. “This is to recognize the music and what you’ve done, your contributions, all the grinding, the kicking down doors and pushing through against a lot of odds. It’s the recognition to be here today, with a music genre they said wouldn’t last.” … Overheard, Megan Moroney said of her fall onstage during this weekend’s Boston Calling Music Festival, “That’s why my arms are sore.” … Zac Brown and jewelry designer Kendra Scott made their relationship red carpet official.
Inside the Show
Tiffany Haddish presented the night’s first award to SZA for favorite female R&B artist. Her corset dress was so tight that she couldn’t walk, so she bounced. … Benson Boone, who undoubtedly influenced the brigade of showgoers with mullets, amped up the crowd, paced around a bit and and laid down on the stage while Wayne Brady and Jordan Chiles presented the favorite female latin artist award to Becky G. When the cameras came on and “Mystical Magical,” cued up he threw in his signature backflip, landing in front of Heidi Klum and Nikki Glaser… Later in the evening, Latin trailblazer Gloria Estefan celebrated the 40th anniversary of “Conga” and her first performance on the AMAs after more than 30 years. Becky G debuted the live version of her song “Que Haces” with Manuel Turizo. As they walked off stage, she jumped into his arms.
Veteran Tribute
This year’s AMAs signified a major leap in location and time of year. Throughout the show’s 51-year history, the ceremony has traditionally taken place in November, January or February in Los Angeles. In 2025, the awards landed on Memorial Day at BleauLive Theater at Fontainebleau Las Vegas thanks in part to nonprofit partner Easy Day Foundation, which provides strategic support for organizations addressing the distinct, critical needs of veterans. The AMAs paid tribute to U.S. troops and veterans in many ways. The first group to walk the red carpet was dozens of Army and Air Force uniformed service members. During the ceremony, the Veterans Voice Award, presented by Easy Day Foundation, was given to Zac Brown for supporting the veteran community. Funds raised will support Zac’s Camp Southern Ground, alongside a network of national Veteran service organizations.
“We had an idea for a big event to raise money and awareness for veterans. And it just so happened that a friend of mine who owns the AMAs came by and he had a similar vision. We decided to tackle it together and make it happen,” said Easy Day founder Frank Fertitta IV (Red Rock Resorts), who along with co-founder Landon Gyulay, runs the organization that supports veterans and their families as they transition back to civilian life, inspired by the Navy SEAL motto, “The only easy day was yesterday.” On-camera moments tied to Easy Day included a performance by Lainey Wilson, introduced by Dan and Shay, who wore head-to-toe white and debuted the new song “Somewhere over Laredo.”
Las Vegas Legends Show Out
Many Las Vegas headliners were in attendance at the show, including Sofi Tukker, who has an engagement at Wynn (one-half of the duo, Tucker Halpern, lives in Las Vegas); they were just off the plane from a weekend at the BottleRock Festival in Napa and are next headed to Montauk for Nylon’s Surf Lodge residency July 2 to 5. The Hollywood Reporter talked to nominee and LIV Beach resident David Guetta about his secret Saturday night pop-up at Fontainebleau’s private club Poodle Room, where the DJ played a disco set. “I saw Poodle Room and thought, this is the most beautiful place in Vegas. It has that ’70s feel, so I proposed to do a disco set. I was scared because I haven’t played disco forever and it was so much fun,” he says.
Former Las Vegas headliners Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani delivered sets prerecorded in the theater and neither was present for the broadcast. However, Shelton did appear down the street at his Ole Red Las Vegas bar over the weekend. Shelton’s first AMA effort, “Stay Country or Die Tryin’,” complemented Stefani’s trip down memory lane to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Love.Angel.Music.Baby with “The Sweet Escape” and “Hollaback Girl,” and “Swallow My Tears” from her latest album, Bouquet.
Current Resort World Theatre marquee-topper Janet Jackson channeled her Poetic Justice era in oversized jeans with a medley of “Someone to Call My Lover” and “All For You.” It marked her first television performance in seven years as she accepted the Icon accolade. Another Las Vegas legend, Sir Rod Stewart, received the Lifetime Achievement Award, appearing on the AMA’s stage for the first time in over 20 years, as five of his kids presented the award.
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