Taylor Swift is receiving the inaugural Artist Director Honors at this year’s ceremony.

VMAs producer confirms idea for award Taylor Swift will first receive ‘came from external’ influence

Taylor Swift is receiving the inaugural Artist Director Honors at this year’s ceremony.

By Daysia Tolentino

Daysia Tolentino

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September 26, 2026 4:52 p.m. ET

Taylor Swift accepts the Video of the Year award for ‘Fortnight’ onstage at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. Credit:

Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty

- The idea for the new Artist Director Honors at the MTV Video Music Awards “came from external” influences, executive producer Bruce Gillmer revealed.

- Taylor Swift will receive the inaugural award.

- The special honor celebrates artists “whose work behind the camera has expanded the possibilities of music video.”

The MTV Video Music Awards is no stranger to adding new categories, but this latest honor was apparently created due to outside influences.

Taylor Swift is due to receive the inaugural Artist Director Honors, which celebrates “groundbreaking music artists whose work behind the camera has expanded the possibilities of music video,” at this year’s ceremony.

Now, executive producer Bruce Gillmer has shared some insight on how the award came to be.

“The Artist Director Honor really is an extension of the [Video] Vanguard [Award],” Gillmer told *AP Entertainment* in an interview published Friday. “And in many ways, even larger in stature because it was an idea that, quite frankly, the kernel of the idea came from external. I’ll leave it at that.”

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** reached out to representatives for the VMAs and Swift for comment.

Gillmer said that the VMAs team put a lot of work into “crafting and thinking about what this could be, the importance of it, [and] launching something as big or bigger than Vanguard.”

“Right away, you see Taylor,” he continued. “Multiple nominations for director.”

Indeed, Swift has been nominated for Best Director seven times with four wins. The award will honor the talent and artistry behind the videos, in contrast to how the Vanguard award celebrates the videos themselves, Gillmer said.

With her Artist Director Honors, Swift will become the most awarded artist in VMA history with 31 wins. She was previously tied with Beyoncé, with the two having 30 wins each.

Taylor Swift attends the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 2, 2025.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

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Beyond the special award, Swift is also the second-most nominated artist at this year’s show with nine nods. This is only second to Madonna, who has 11 nominations.

“Across her work, Swift has brought an increasingly expansive approach to storytelling, creating interconnected narratives, cinematic worlds and recurring details that invite audiences deeper into each project,” a press release announcing Swift’s award read. “The inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors recognizes that body of work, while also underscoring the growing role artists play in shaping how their music is brought to life on screen.”

The MTV VMAs air Sunday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m. ET/ 4:30 p.m. PT on CBS and MTV.

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