The MTV Video Music Awards have officially crowned a new Video of the Year winner.
Host Snoop Dogg presented the trophy to Taylor Swift for “The Fate of Ophelia” at the 2026 ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 27, marking her sixth time winning the accolade.
Swift, 36, dedicated the award to Dolly Parton, who died in August at age 80.
“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,” she said in her acceptance speech. “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.”
Swift continued, “She handled this thing with such grace and joy and love and gratitude for the fact that she got to do this, and everything that happened in her life and her career, she channeled back into love and gratitude and appreciation for her fans. I am lucky I got to be one of them, and I will always be one of them. I love you all so very much, and I think that we were all very, very … lucky to share this planet with Dolly Parton for a time, and thank you for this amazing moment. I love you all.”
When nominations were announced in August, six artists had the chance to win Video of the Year. Swift earned a nod for “The Fate of Ophelia,” while Ariana Grande was honored for “Hate That I Made You Love Me.” Sabrina Carpenter‘s “Tears” was also nominated, along with Madonna‘s “Confessions II – The Film.” Bruno Mars and Gener8ion rounded out the category for “I Just Might” and “Storm” featuring Yung Lean, respectively.
Last year, Grande, 33, took home Video of the Year for Brighter Days Ahead, the short film that accompanied her album Eternal Sunshine.
“I want to start off, again, with my fans: Thank you so, so, so much. I love you with all my heart,” she said in her acceptance speech at the 2025 awards show. “I have since I was a teenager, since we first crossed paths, and I will for my whole life.”
Grande shared the honor with director Christian Breslauer. She went on to explain the personal meaning behind the project.
“Art has been a safe space for me since I was a kid,” the “Break Free” singer continued. “I’m so grateful that I get to do this with my life and to have such fiercely loving and supportive fans. Thank you for growing with me and being so supportive of me as a human being, navigating in real time which creative itch needs to be scratched next, whether it’s acting, music, musical theater or a little bit of tour.”
She concluded, “This project is about the hard work that is healing all different kinds of trauma and coming home to our young selves and creating safety in our own lives, which is a lifelong process and a daily exercise. If you’re on that journey, please continue onward, because I promise there are brighter days ahead.”
Grande’s win pressed pause on a three-year streak by Swift, who won Video of the Year in 2022 for All Too Well: The Short Film, 2023 for her “Anti-Hero” music video and 2024 for “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone.
Swift’s 2024 acceptance speech marked one of her first major public comments about then-boyfriend Travis Kelce, who she married this summer after three years together.
“It was actually the most fun video to make,” she gushed at the time. “Something that I’ll always remember is when I finished a take and I’d say ‘cut,’ and we’d be done with that take, I would always hear someone cheering from across the studio where we were shooting it. That one person was my boyfriend, Travis.”
The “Patient Zero” artist added, “Everything this man touches turns to happiness and fun and magic, so I want to thank him for adding that to our shoot because I’ll always remember that.”
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