Taylor Swift received the first-ever Artist Director Honors at the 2026 Video Music Awards on Monday, September 28 (PH time).
During her acceptance speech, Taylor reflected on her two-decade journey of creating music videos and how her role behind the camera has evolved over the years.
"First of all, I wanna say thank you to MTV for giving this platform to music videos so long ago. 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, roughly 60. Eighteen of those I wrote and directed," she said.
The Grammy-winning artist also shared why writing and directing music videos has become especially meaningful to her, crediting her fans for making the creative process more rewarding.
"I really love writing and directing music videos. I got to tell you though that the main reason why I love writing and directing music videos so much is because you, the fans, make it so much fun. You make it so rewarding! Because you actually care about what we're making," she stated.
Taylor also expressed her gratitude to the people she has collaborated with on her music videos throughout her career.
"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 work alongside me on these projects. Mainly, I want to say thank you to the fans, and rather than say anything else... I would love to, if it's okay with you, show you my latest music video," she stated.
READ: Taylor Swift reveals inspiration behind new single ‘Patient Zero’
After her speech, the singer-songwriter premiered the music video for her latest single, "Patient Zero" at the VMAs.
Taylor got to work with Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and actors Dakota Johnson, Colin Farrell, and Cara Delevingne for the "Patient Zero" music video.