Taylor Swift Wins Video of the Year at 2026 MTV VMAs, Extends Her Record

Taylor Swift won the top prize of video of the year for “The Fate if Ophelia” at the 2026 Video Music Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

The singer extended her record for the most wins in the video of the year category, having previously won for “Bad Blood,” “You Need to Calm Down,” “All Too Well: The Short Film,” “Anti-Hero” and “Fortnight.”

Swift took to the stage at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles to accept the award: “Thank you so much for giving this award to this video because I’m so proud of it. To the fans, thank you for voting on it. I just loved making this video because I wanted it to seem like one continuous shot, so I learned a lot about hiding cuts in places,” she said. “I want to thank everybody who helped me on this video shoot because — just the choreography, I love so much. Mandy Moore as my choreographer — set design, production design by Ethan Tobman. My editor, Chancler Haynes. My cinematographer on this video I’ve gotten to work with before, he’s one of the people who gave me the confidence to actually direct videos on my own. His name is Rodrigo Prieto. I want to thank him.”

The “Bad Blood” singer dedicated her win to Dolly Parton, who died Aug. 25 at age 80: “Lastly, but most importantly, 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.”

Swift continued, “You hear what she has written. Man, she handled this thing with such grace and joy, and love, and gratitude for the fact that she got to do this. Everything that happened in her life or 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. I think we were all very lucky to share this planet with Dolly Parton for a time. Thank you for this amazing moment.”

Swift beat out fellow video of the year nominees Ariana Grande with “hate that i made you love me,” Bruno Mars with “I Just Might,” GENER8ION with “STORM starring Yung Lean,” Madonna with “Confessions II – The Film” and Sabrina Carpenter with “Tears.”

The 2026 VMAs also marked Swift’s win for the inaugural artist director award as well as best direction for “Opalite.” Swift accepted the prize earlier in the night before debuting the music video for her latest single “Patient Zero,” starring Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell.

Other notable wins of the night included Madonna for artist of the year and Sienna Spiro for best new artist. Find all the winners here.

Hosted by Snoop Dogg, the 2026 VMAs aired on CBS and MTV and streamed on Paramount+ Premium in the U.S.