Taylor Swift won Video of the Year for The Fate of Ophelia at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 27, while Madonna took Artist of the Year. Swift also received the inaugural Artist Director Honors, giving the ceremony two prominent winners across its competitive and special awards, according to TheWrap and CNN Brasil.
Snoop Dogg hosted the live show at the Peacock Theater, which CBS and MTV broadcast and Paramount+ streamed. Madonna entered with 11 nominations and Swift with nine, according to the official MTV nomination release. The event returned to the Los Angeles area after years of ceremonies in New York and New Jersey, according to the Associated Press.
Swift won the leading video category for The Fate of Ophelia and received a newly created honor recognizing music artists whose work behind the camera advances visual storytelling. The Associated Press reported before the show that she and Beyoncé had each won 30 VMAs; the new honor alone broke that tie. Swift also premiered the music video for Patient Zero during the broadcast, TheWrap reported.
Madonna won Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration for Bring Your Love with Sabrina Carpenter, and Best Dance for Confessions II – The Film, according to TheWrap. She opened the show with her first live VMA performance in 23 years, a return CBS and MTV had announced ahead of the ceremony. Her 11 nominations led the field in the organizer’s original competitive list.
Other results showed the range of performers recognized: Sienna Spiro won Best New Artist, and LISA won Best Pop for Dream featuring Kentaro Sakaguchi, according to TheWrap and CNN Brasil. Nirvana received the Video Vanguard Award, an honorary distinction that CBS and MTV had announced earlier in September. These awards covered emerging artists, pop videos and an established rock group.
The results close this year’s VMA competition while putting attention on the winning videos and the artists’ next releases. Paramount said the show would become available globally on its streaming service and MTV the following day. The awards also marked a new category for artist directors, which the organizer says recognizes contributions to the music video form.
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