Taylor Swift had some extra shine to take home after the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards.
Swift, 36, won a total of two Moon Person trophies out of her 11 nominations on Sunday, September 27, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The singer, who was also honored with the inaugural Artist Director Honors, received Video of the Year for “The Fate of Ophelia” and Best Direction for “Opalite.”
While taking home the trophy for Video of the Year, Swift dedicated her speech to the late Dolly Parton.
“To the fans, thank you for voting on it,” she began. “I loved making this video because I wanted it to seem like one continuous shot, so I learned a lot about hiding cuts in places. I want to thank and dedicate this award to one person, without whom this wouldn’t be happening, and that person is the ultimate showgirl, Dolly Parton. Every single song that she wrote, her storytelling was so vivid and so rich. … Listening to her songs, it’s like watching the best music video you have ever seen in your life every single time you hear what she has written.”
This year, Swift was also nominated for Best Choreography, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Pop Song for her hit “The Fate of Ophelia.” She was also up for Best Album for The Life of a Showgirl and Artist of the Year. Lastly, Swift was nominated for Song of the Summer for her Toy Story 5 track “I Knew It, I Knew You.”
While accepting the inaugural Artist Director Honors, she premiered her “Patient Zero” music video, which featured Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson as a couple. Swift also appeared in the video as Farrell’s ghostly ex who lived through a similarly toxic relationship.
Swift released an extended edition of her 12 album, titled The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, on Friday, September 25. The album featured new single “Patient Zero,” as well as three more songs: “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon.”
“About a year ago, you guys did a truly unfathomable thing. Something that completely blew my mind… You gave The Life of a Showgirl the biggest first week for an album in history,” the chart-topping performer wrote via Instagram last week. “I took a trip to Sweden to celebrate with [producers] Max [Martin] and Shellback, my two collaborators on this album.”
She continued, “Really we just wanted to reflect and take in how grateful we were for the moment we were in, but there was a studio there and we did what we do when we feel anything at all: We wrote more songs. I hope you love them, because they were born out of pure gratitude for your exuberance for and celebration of the album we made.”
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