Rich Polk/Billboard via Getty Images
Taylor Swift's latest VMA reportedly came from "outside influences"
Taylor Swift took home the 31st MTV Video Music Award of her career over the weekend. The award, however, had never existed before this year and “came from external” influences.
At the VMAs on Sunday night, pop star Taylor Swift won the inaugural Artist Director Honors, a brand-new award recognizing her work directing her own music videos.
MTV VMAs executive producer Bruce Gillmer confirmed the idea behind Taylor Swift’s new Artist Director Honors came from “external” influences
Speaking to AP, though, VMAs executive producer Bruce Gillmer said the idea for the honor “came from external” influences before cheekily adding, “I’ll leave it at that.”
Actress Dakota Johnson presented the award to Swift, saying she is the “the single most recognized video director in this show.”
“I learned something from every single person that ever worked alongside me on these projects. Mainly, I want to say thank you to the fans,” Swift said while accepting the award.
Given how produced everything around Swift seems to be, social media was ablaze with jokes about her pretending to be surprised about an award she effectively gave herself.
Pretending to be surprised and humbled by receiving an award she created to give herself… she’s actually a psychopath https://t.co/bt6ZS4kxuF
— Meech (@MediumSizeMeech) September 28, 2026
You can tell Taylor Swift is PR’ing her transition into writing and directing TV or film, and trust me, the PR roadmap is clear: Toy Story 5, the planted Tom Cruise comment about “directing,” and an “Artist Director” award MTV made just to do PR for her… https://t.co/qYg3dU4xdz
— art tavana (@arttavana) September 28, 2026
To her credit, Swift has directed 18 of her roughly 60 music videos and has four Best Director VMA wins from seven nominations. The new trophy pushed her career total to 31 VMA wins, which takes her past Beyonce to officially make her the most-awarded artist in the show’s history.