Taylor Swift was in the house at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 11, which means she was guaranteed to win something. The only question was just how many Moon Persons out of her 12 nominations would she end up taking home?
The answer was seven, including Video of the Year for “Fortnight” — her unprecedented fifth win in the category. Added to Taylor’s previous 23 wins, that means she has now won 30 times, making her the most-awarded artist in VMA history. Beyoncé was the previous record holder with 29 wins — counting her wins with Destiny’s Child and her collaboration with Jay-Z as The Carters, but not counting her Video Vanguard Award.
During Taylor’s first televised acceptance speech for Best Collaboration, an award she shared with Post Malone, she acknowledged that the ceremony was taking place in New York City on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “I’ve just been thinking about what happened 23 years ago,” she said. “Everyone who lost a loved one and everyone that we lost, and that is the most important thing about today — and everything that happens tonight falls behind that.”
During her Video of the Year acceptance speech, Taylor talked about how much fun she had making “Fortnight,” mentioning that every time she said, “Cut!” she heard cheering from across the set from “my boyfriend, Travis Kelce.”
“Everything this man touches turns to happiness and fun and magic,” she added. “I want to thank him for adding that to our shoot.” Taylor then urged her fans to register to vote for the upcoming election.
The rest of the show was heavily focused on musical performances rather than awards, but it also acknowledged the fact that 2024 marked the 40th anniversary of the event. It even began with a callback to one of the show’s most memorable moments: Eminem and dozens of lookalikes assembled outside the UBS Arena and marched together into the venue, down the aisles and onto the stage, just as he did in 2000.
Clips of other memorable moments from past VMAs were also shown — and at one point, host Megan Thee Stallion even dressed like Britney Spears during her iconic “I’m a Slave 4 U” performance, complete with a real albino python draped over her. Upping the nostalgia factor, Cyndi Lauper, who was a winner at the very first VMAs, was a presenter, and so was TRL host Carson Daly.
The performances had something for everyone: pop from Halsey, Sabrina Carpenter, Camila Cabello, Benson Boone, Shawn Mendes and Chappell Roan; rock from Lenny Kravitz; K-pop from LISA; Latin from Karol G, Anitta and Rauw Alejandro and rap from Eminem, Megan, GloRilla and LL Cool J.
Katy Perry received the Video Vanguard award and performed a mega-medley of her hits, including “I Kissed a Girl,” “Firework” and “Dark Horse,” plus two new songs. Katy’s partner Orlando Bloom presented her with the award, after which she joked that she’d done the lengthy performance “on the first day of my period, if you can believe it!”
Best New Artist winner Chappell Roan performed dressed like Joan of Arc in a suit of armor and a sword. In her touching speech, she dedicated the award to “all the drag artists who inspire me,” “queer and trans people who fuel pop,” “the gays who dedicate my songs to someone they love or hate” and “the people who are fans, who listen to me, who hear me when I share my joy and fears.”
She concluded “And for all the queer kids in the Midwest watching right now, I see you. I understand you, because I’m one of you. And don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t be exactly who you want to be, b****!”
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