Taylor Swift Makes History, Wins First-Ever Artist Director Honor at VMAs: ‘I Just Love Making Stuff’

Taylor Swift received the first-ever MTV VMA Artist Director Honors on Sunday night at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

The new award is designed to honor the “groundbreaking musical artists” whose contributions and efforts behind the camera have “expanded the possibilities of music video and advanced the art of visual storytelling.” Swift, who was chosen as the award’s inaugural recipient, is a seven-time nominee and four-time VMAs winner for Best Director.

Dakota Johnson, Swift’s close friend, presented the honor.

“Taylor has spent the majority of her life on set, telling tales and building worlds. She isn’t just one of the most decorated artists in the history of the VMAs. She is the single most recognized video director in this show,” Johnson said. “She is a visionary with a relentless drive for perfection in everything she does, and still holds the artistry and the cardinal virtue to never lose sight of the ineffable magic spark at the center of it all.”

In a clip showcasing the artist’s work over the years Swift broke down her filmmaking process admitting she “just loves making stuff.”

“First of all, I want to say thank you to MTV for giving this platform to music videos so long ago,” Swift said in her acceptance speech. “I got to start making music videos and being a part of music videos 20 years ago, and since then I’ve gotten to be a part of making 60 music videos from 18 of those I wrote and directed, and I really love writing and directing music videos.”

She continued: “I got to tell you though, the main reason why I love writing and directing music videos so much is because you, the fans, make it so much fun. It’s so rewarding because you actually care about what we’re making. So, you know, I want to say thank you to everyone who ever worked on a music video that I got to be a part of. 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.”

Over the years, the “Life of a Showgirl” singer-songwriter has taken more control of her visual output. She has directed many of her own music videos, including those for songs like “The Fate of Ophelia,” “Opalite,” “The Man,” “cardigan,” “willow,” “Anti-Hero,” “Bejeweled,” “Lavender Haze,” “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault),” “Karma (feat. Ice Spice)” and “Fortnight (feat. Post Malone).” In 2021, she also helmed the short film for the 10-minute version of her “Red” track, “All Too Well,” which starred Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien.

Along with taking home the inaugural award, Swift also premiered the music video for her new single “Patient Zero” starring Johnson and Colin Farrell.

The singer released the single Friday accompanied by her “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore” expansion album. The new Disc 2 featured four songs: “Patient Zero,” “Cleveland!” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon.”

In a Friday interview with Capital FM, Swift explained that the song was inspired by experiences she and her friends have had with women dating their exes reaching out to them for advice.

“The story behind me writing the song ‘Patient Zero’ is that I was hanging out with a bunch of friends, and one of my friends told us that she had been reached out to by the new girlfriend of an ex of hers, asking for guidance on if she had had the same experiences with this guy,” she said. “Everyone in our group just immediately started saying like, ‘Oh, I’ve been through that too,’ and telling the stories of when this kind of reach out had happened for them.”