Taylor Swift was the big winner at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, scooping nine prizes, and she made history as the first person to win Video of the Year four times.
The 33-year-old singer-songwriter dominated the evening at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday, Sept. 12 as she took home gongs for the likes of Video of the Year and Song of the Year, both for her tune “Anti-Hero,” as well as the coveted Artist of the Year accolade.
Swift also scooped the Best Direction, Best Pop, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects awards for “Anti-Hero.”
As she accepted the Best Pop prize, she told the crowd: “I love making pop music, I love making pop music videos, I also love making country. I love slinking around different genres and the only reason I’m allowed to do that is because you, the fans, gave me the opportunity to do this. One big adventure and it’s all so much to challenge myself to make music that’s different than what I made last and I just love you for it. But I really love making pop music, so thank you so, so, so much.”
She made history for winning the Video of the Year prize a record fourth time after previously scooping the gong for “All Too Well: The Short Film,” “Bad Blood, and “You Need to Calm Down.”
Swift, who also won Album of the Year for Midnights and the Show of the Summer accolade, praised her longtime song writing partner Jack Antonoff — who wasn’t in attendance — after accepting the Song of the Year gong.
She said: “I want to say, I’m really, really lucky that I get to write songs with one of my best friends in the world, his name is Jack Antonoff. I’m so lucky I’ve been making music with him since we worked on an album called 1989 — we will continue working together until 2089!’ Anyway, I am so, so happy because this is validating my favorite part of what I get to do. I started writing songs when I was 12 and it always starts with a very isolated emotion, a very specific type of insecurity or self-loathing that I feel like I’m the only one who is feeling in that moment. But then when I go out on tour and I’ve got stadiums singing the words back to me.”
Swift was nominated for 11 awards in total, and only lost out in the Best Editing category, to Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire,” and Song of the Summer, which went to Jungkook and Latto’s tune “Seven.”
Other big winners on the night saw Nicki Minaj — who hosted the ceremony — take home “Super Freaky Girl” in the Best Hip-Hop category, and Ice Spice was named Best New Artist. Stray Kids’ “S-Class” was awarded Best K-Pop, Anitta’s “Funk Rave” took the Best Latin award, and SZA landed Best R&B thanks to song “Shirt.”
