It is presented by MTV for "outstanding contributions" and "profound impact" on music videos and popular culture.
According to MTV, his name was attached to the award due to "Jackson's groundbreaking work as a video artist".
[6] This naming again caused controversy after the release of Leaving Neverland (2019), a documentary about alleged child sexual abuse by Jackson.
[13] Since its inception, the Video Vanguard Award has been awarded to 35 acts, with most of them being of American or British origin, except Russell Mulcahy (1985, Australian), Zbigniew Rybczyński (1986, Polish), U2 (2001, Irish), Rihanna (2016, Barbadian), Nicki Minaj (2022, Trinidadian), and Shakira (2023, Colombian).
Out of all the winners, nine acts have also won the VMAs' biggest prize, Video of the Year,[14][15] including Peter Gabriel and Justin Timberlake, who both earned the two awards in the same night.