Doja Cat References Cult Classic TV Character in Her VMAs 2025 Performance

Doja Cat wowed crowds at the 2025 Video Music Awards with her performance that harkened back to the early days of music videos.

Before performing her new single, “Jealous Type,” the singer/rapper interrupted VMAs host LL Cool J with a Max Headroom-inspired video and a sax solo from 80s music icon Kenny G.

The performance itself was also very 80s, with lots of pink and checkerboard patterns across the stage, completed with keytars and Kangol-wearing dancers. It was a clear callback to the earliest days of MTV.

Doja Cat’s full performance at the 2025 #VMAs performing “Jealous Type” pic.twitter.com/GhOWKlGZNS

— Doja Archives (@DojaArchives) September 8, 2025

For those unaware, Max Headroom was “the first computer-generated TV presenter,” who was actually just a guy in heavy makeup hidden behind special effects, known for his acerbic wit and topical commentary. He was created in the UK as the country’s response to MTV, before making his way to the US on ABC.

The performance seems to indicate that Doja Cat’s upcoming fifth album, Vie, will have an ’80s theme to it. Her last album, Scarlet, sported two massive singles in “Paint the Town Red” and “Agora Hills,” which hit #1 and #7 on the Billboard charts, respectively.

Doja Cat’s next album, Vie, will be released on September 26.