Taylor Swift thanks Swifties while receiving inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors
Taylor Swift thanks Swifties while receiving inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors
Shelby StivaleMon, September 28, 2026 at 1:50 AM UTC
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Taylor Swift accepts the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors on Sept. 27 in Los AngelesCredit: Stewart Cook/CBSKey Points -
Taylor Swift took home the first-ever MTV VMA Artist Director Honors on Sunday.
The singer was honored for her work behind the camera.
Swift has directed 15 of her own music videos throughout her career.
Taylor Swift is walking away from the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards with a major honor.
Taking the stage on Sunday to bestow longtime friend Swift with the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors, Dakota Johnson hugged the award’s winner, who kicked off her acceptance speech by thanking MTV for offering a platform for music videos.
“The main reason why I love writing and directing music videos so much is because you — the fans — make it so much fun,” Swift said, holding her gold Moonman. “You make it so rewarding, because you actually care about what we’re making.”
Days before Sunday’s live show, CBS and MTV announced that during the ceremony, Swift would receive the first-ever MTV VMA Artist Director Honors. The new award recognizes “groundbreaking music artists whose work behind the camera has expanded the possibilities of music video and advanced the art of visual storytelling,” according to a press release from earlier this month. With several music video directing credits under her belt, Swift absolutely qualifies. (Swift has been nominated in the VMAs’ Best Director category seven times, winning on four separate occasions.)
Taylor Swift and Dakota Johnson at the 2026 MTV VMAsCredit: Francis Specker/CBS
When announcing the award, MTV also referred to Swift as one of the most “distinctive directors” of her generation.
While she’s been making music since 2006, Swift’s foray into directing started in 2019, when she stepped behind the lens for “The Man,” during her Loverera. She revealed during Variety’s “Directors on Directors” interview series in 2022 that directing “came out of necessity” when no other female filmmakers were available.
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“I was like, ‘I could do it, maybe,’” Swift recalled. “And when I did direct, I just thought, ‘This is actually more fulfilling than I ever could have imagined.’”
She added, “I always wanted to tell stories. I have always written stories, poetry, songs. And I think this just grew out of that storytelling. And the more I did it, the more I loved it.”
The MTV VMA Artist Director Honors celebrates Swift’s entire body of work, which proves she has “pushed creative boundaries and developed a clear directorial voice.” While Swift has been behind (and in front of) the camera for videos like “Opalite,” “You Need to Calm Down,” “Anti-Hero” and “Cardigan,” among others, perhaps her most famous moment as a director came in 2021, with the release of “All Too Well: The Short Film.” Starring Dylan O’Brien and Sadie Sink, the 10-minute video was released alongside Red (Taylor’s Version), which included the expanded version of “All Too Well” that fans had been begging for.
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“Every aspect of my job as a singer has affected the way that I am as a director,” Swift said during the same Variety interview. “I definitely feel more free to create now. And I’m making more albums at a more rapid pace than I ever did before, because I think the more art you create, hopefully the less pressure you put on yourself.”
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
