Taylor Swift to receive inaugural artist director award at VMAs

Taylor Swift will receive the first-ever award for artist director at the 2026 MTV VMAs.

The accolade – which will be handed out at the ceremony this weekend – was announced by MTV and CBS.

In a press release, the broadcasters said the artist director honour is a “new award recognising groundbreaking music artists whose work behind the camera has expanded the possibilities of music video and advanced the art of visual storytelling”.

Swift, 36, made her solo directorial debut in 2020 with the video for her Lover single The Man, which won her best direction at the MTV VMAs that year.

Taylor Swift will receive an inaugural MTV VMA award (Matt Crossick/PA)

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The next year she made her filmmaking debut with All Too Well: The Short Film, which won VMAs for video of the year, best longform video and best direction.

She has also directed videos for her songs Cardigan, Willow, Anti-Hero, Bejeweled, Lavender Haze, Karma, I Can See You, Fortnight, The Fate Of Ophelia and Opalite.

Swift already received 11 nominations at the upcoming MTV VMAs.

She has been recognised in the video of the year, best pop, best art direction, best cinematography, best editing, best choreography, best visual effects and best direction for Opalite.

Swift’s other nominations are for best album for The Life Of A Showgirl, song of summer for I Knew It, I Knew You, and artist of the year.

This year’s VMA nominations are led by Madonna with 13 in total, with other musicians with multiple nominations including Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson.

Nirvana will be honoured with the Video Vanguard award.

Last month, Swift said she used her music to overcome a “hate frenzy”.

Taylor Swift is also nominated for 11 awards (Doug Peters/PA)

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In an interview during her Grammy Museum Icons Session she reflected on how people had once “actively tried to misunderstand me”, which left her feeling “stifled” as a person and writer.

“This is when I learned when people are in a hate frenzy about a public figure, or really anyone,” she said.

Elsewhere in the interview, Swift explained she primarily made music for her fans to help them “cope with their life in the way that I did”, but added: “Putting out music you’ve made that you love so much is not the path to universal validation.”

The 2026 MTV VMAs will be hosted by Snoop Dogg and will air on Sunday, September 27.