VMAs 2018: Jennifer Lopez, Ariana Grande Party Downtown After the Show

By Marc Malkin

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The celebrating didn’t stop when the credits rolled at the end of the MTV Video Music Awards.

Jennifer Lopez headed downtown to the Lower East Side’s Beauty & Essex to toast her Vanguard Award. The front of the hot spot was decked out with her various wardrobe changes from her VMA performance on dress forms along with glossy photos and magazine covers displayed inside the glass cabinets along the walls.

Her longtime manager, Benny Medina, waited patiently at the door for J.Lo’s arrival. Later on, he delivered a heartfelt speech and asked everyone to raise their glasses in honor of Lopez.

Inside the bash, at about midnight, Lopez was greeted by guests chanting, “Jennifer, Jennifer…” She hugged Melissa Gorga of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” as did Lopez’s producing partner Elaine Goldsmith Thomas.

Also joining the festivities were Tiffany Haddish, Olivia Munn, Shay Mitchell, G-Eazy, and Rita Ora.

In the back of the house, Lopez cut into a gold Moon Person cake. Her boyfriend, Alex Rodriguez, was by her side most of the evening, but took time to also mingle with guests.

White and gold balloons and white flowers decorated the joint as wait staff offered a menu of bite-size empanadas, avocado toast, and mini meatballs. Specialty cocktails were named in honor of Lopez’s hit singles, including the Jenny from the Block, a mix of Stoli vodka, earl grey tea, lemon, and mint syrup.

Meanwhile, Republic Records partied at Catch Roof for the VMAs as well as for CEO Monte Lipman’s birthday with a (half-) moon-shaped cake, complete with a little Moon Person. The ceiling was covered in black, white, and grey balloons. In the house were Ariana Grande, Liam Payne, Shawn Mendes, Marshmello, Hayley Kiyoko, Bryan “Baby” Williams, Ronald “Slim” Williams, Jessie Reyez, Wale, Lauv, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia O’Brien, Madison Beer, DJ Cassidy, Blackway, LouGotCash, Kim Viera, Jeremy Zucker, Phantoms, and Dascha Polanco, along with execs Wendy Goldstein, Kerri Mackar, and Joe Carozza’s PR team and uber-manager Scooter Braun.

As for the younger stars of the night, Millie Bobby Brown, dancer Maddie Ziegler, and “Total Eclipse” actress Lilia Buckingham ended the night enjoying burgers and Cookies & Cream Supreme CrazyShakes at Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer.