Last-minute preparations for the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards are officially underway! All of the seats in front of the stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York City have already been been labeled with the seating arrangement for the star-studded guest list, Us Weekly has learned.
Jennifer Lopez — who will be honored with the coveted Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, in addition to performing at the ceremony for the first time since 2001 — has six seats blocked off in the center of the front row, likely for her family members and boyfriend Alex Rodriguez.
Other guests in the front row include Camila Cabello, Millie Bobby Brown, Shawn Mendes and Cardi B, all of whom are sitting stage left. Over on stage right are Tiffany Haddish, Cardi’s rival Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande and Lenny Kravitz.
DJ Khaled has five seats reserved in the center of the second row. Seated stage left are Logic, Amandla Stenberg, Bebe Rexha, Rita Ora and Post Malone, while the stage right seats are for Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Travis Scott, Kylie Jenner and the members of Panic! at the Disco.
The guests seated in the third row include Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Aerosmith, 21 Savage, Marshmello, Liam Payne, Lil Uzi Vert, Gucci Mane, Shay Mitchell and Young Thug. In addition, each celebrity audience member has an additional seat for a plus-one.
Each year, the seating chart is carefully arranged by MTV, which tries to take requests from stars.
“We’re an artist-driven brand, so we have good intel on what’s happening with relationships,” executive producer Bruce Gilmer tells Us. “We respect that, so we try and sit friends next to each other and try to stay away from hot buttons. … We lay it all out and as rehearsals start, their managers will say, ‘Can you scoot them over three seats to the left?’ or something.”
The 2018 MTV Video Music Awards air live on Monday, August 20, at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Travis Cronin
