The propagation theory of Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) vortex beams in nonlinear Kerr media is studied. The analytical formulae of the amplitude, Gouy phase and orbital angular momentum (OAM) of LG vortex beams propagating in nonlinear Kerr media are derived. It is shown that the inverse rotation of the vortex field can be achieved due to the self-focusing nonlinearity. It is found that the influence of Kerr nonlinearity on OAM can be ignored for a situation without filamentation. Furthermore, the gradient force increases because of the self-focusing nonlinearity.