Ed Sheeran leads winners at the MTV EMAs as stars show solidarity for LGBTQ+ community
Many of the stars expressed their support for the LGBTQ+ community in the face of Hungary's recent restrictive laws
Ed Sheeran won two big awards at the MTV EMAs in Budapest last night, and many of the stars celebrated the LGBT+ community on the night.
Sheeran opened a car boot to receive the Best Artist award, and he then won the Best Song award for ‘Bad Habits.’
As well as taking home two of the biggest awards, Ed also opened the show with a live performance of ‘Overpass Graffiti’ followed by ‘Shivers.’
Saweetie was the host for the night, held in Budapest, and was one of many stars who expressed support for the LGBT+ community.
She told the audience it is “always important we respect each other” before adding: “That’s why it’s so important we stand up for the LGBTQ+ community.”
It comes after MTV faced widespread condemnation for their decision to host the awards in Budapest, following the recent passing of widespread anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
Years And Years singer Olly Alexander, presenting Best Video, said the nominees for the category “all support same-sex adoption as family is family.”
In 2020 the awards was held online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and many musicians expressed gratitude for being back in person again.
Yungblud closed the ceremony after winning the award for Best Alternative award, and dedicated his win as a “tribute to individualism”.
“I would like to say that this award is a tribute to individualism – this is an award for the 13-year-old boy from the north of England who was absolutely terrified to be who he was,”
“If you are out there and you feel like you cannot be who you are, you can be. Keep fighting. Keep being brilliant.”
The 2021 winners of the Eurovision Song Contest, Italy’s Måneskin won Best Rock.
Frontman Damiano David said: “We also want to say that people usually told us that we were not going to make it with our music – well, I guess you were wrong.”
As well as Ed Sheeran winning two awards, BTS took home four awards including Best Pop and Best Group.
Justin Bieber, however, was nominated for eight awards and didn’t win any.
Kim Petras was the first transgender star to perform at the awards show.
Host Saweetie also won Best New Category.
She thanked fans for supporting her “since I was rapping in my car”, adding: “This is just the beginning.”
OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder told the PA news agency he felt the awards being in Budapest could be a good thing: “It sends a huge message.
“I’m from an extremely conservative, right-wing city and family and religious community so until I was 20 I had the same kind of thoughts of like ‘Oh, that’s bad, this is good’.”
He continued: “And now I’m sitting here going it’s absurd we even have to make these statements that everyone is equal and showing love and equality.
“These are things that should have been the absolute bedrock of constitutions and humanity for the last 100 years but, you know, it takes a minute for humans to catch up and I think we’ve finally caught up.”