Taylor Swift Set for Inaugural VMA Director Honor

MTV and CBS on Sept. 21 named Taylor Swift the first recipient of a new Artist Director Honors for the Video Music Awards on Sept. 27 at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles. The networks said the prize recognizes artists whose work behind the camera has expanded music-video possibilities and who have built a sustained, clear directorial voice. Swift has won Best Direction four times after directing clips including The Man, All Too Well: The Short Film, Anti-Hero, Fortnight and The Fate of Ophelia. She told Variety the shift started from necessity on The Man when preferred female directors were booked, then grew as a natural extension of her storytelling; she found it more fulfilling than imagined and said, "The more I did it, the more I loved it." Snoop Dogg hosts the CBS and Paramount+ broadcast at 7:30 p.m. EST. Swift has nine nominations this year while Madonna leads with 11. Her attendance remains unconfirmed even as a same-night Chiefs game in Miami looms. CONTESTED: Femalefirst.co.uk reports she already holds 30 VMAs, the most in history; a wire summary cites one report that the honor would put her past Beyoncé.