Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco to host 2019 MTV Video Music Awards

Comedian and actor Sebastian Maniscalco will host the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, it has been announced.

The Green Book star revealed the news during an appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s US talk show, promising an “unfiltered” take on the annual ceremony.

Maniscalco said: “It’s huge, it’s huge. I am so excited.”

The 45-year-old, who began his career in stand-up comedy, admitted his knowledge of modern music is not exhaustive but predicted his hosting would be “fun”.

He added: “I didn’t really grow up with pop culture music but I think this is going to be fun because MTV wants an unfiltered look at the VMAs through my eyes.”

The VMAs, which honour the best music videos of the year, were first held in 1984 and the ceremony is one of the most anticipated dates on the music industry calendar.

Last year Ariana Grande and Camila Cabello were among the winners.

Maniscalco is fresh off his appearance in Oscar-winning drama Green Book alongside Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen.

During his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Maniscalco said he fell down the stairs during the Oscars ceremony in February.

He said: “I’m walking down the stairs and boom. Now, I don’t know if anybody’s ever fell down stairs before, but there’s a moment like ‘is this gonna happen?’.

“As I’m rolling down, I can’t believe I’m in a tuxedo at the Oscars falling down stairs. The movie gets called and I’m like ‘I’m putting ice on my knees’.”

Maniscalco stars in Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated upcoming Netflix film, The Irishman, playing gangster “Crazy” Joe Gallo alongside Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.

The 2019 MTV VMAs will take place at the Prudential Centre in Newark, New Jersey, on August 26.