Taylor Swift at the 2026 MTV VMAs: Pop’s Biggest Star Accepts Top Prize and Inaugural Honor, Debuts “Patient Zero” Music Video

Taylor Swift premiered her music video for "Patient Zero" at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards. The video, directed by Swift, stars Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson and was shot by Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki. According to Consequence, the video depicts a doomed romance and features Swift as an angel on Johnson's shoulder.

The single "Patient Zero" was released earlier in the weekend, accompanied by a special edition of Swift's album, The Life of a Showgirl: Encore Edition, which includes four new songs. Variety describes the song as a "ghost story" and a love triangle.

The 2026 MTV VMAs also featured a performance by Madonna, her first appearance at the awards in 23 years, with Snoop Dogg as host.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Consequence, Forbes, TheWrap — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.