1 of 5 | Taylor Swift arrives on the red carpet at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at the UBS Arena in New York on Wednesday. Photo by Derek C. French/UPI | License Photo
Sept. 11 (UPI) — Taylor Swift won Video of the Year at the 40th MTV Video Music Awards, hosted by Megan Thee Stallion, Wednesday on the UBS Arena stage in New York.
Swift won the night’s biggest award for “Fortnight,” her collaboration with Post Malone.
Chappell Roan was named Best New Artist, and Swift was named Artist of the Year.
Swift also won Best Pop, and her “Fortnight” video also racked up awards for Best Collaboration, Song of Summer, Best Direction and Best Editing.
Best Latin was awarded to Anitta for “Mil Veces.”
Best R&B went to SZA for “Snooze,” and Video for Good went to “What Was I Made For? (From The Motion Picture Barbie)” by Billie Eilish. Eminem won Best Hip-Hop for “Houdini.”
Charm La’Donna won Best Choreography for Dua Lipa’s “Houdini.” Anatol Trofimov scored Best Cinematography for Ariana Grande‘s “we can’t be friends (wait for your love).”
The night kicked off when Eminem took the stage to perform “Houdini,” from his album The Death of Slim Shady, while flanked by dozens of lookalikes. He was then joined virtually by Jelly Roll for a performance of “Somebody Save Me,” from the same album.
The first award of the night, Best Collaboration, went to Taylor Swift and Post Malone for “Fortnight.” The award was presented by Flavor Flav and gymnast Jordan Chiles, who was presented with a clock by the Public Enemy rapper to replace her revoked Bronze Medal.
The presentation was followed by a performance of “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido,” by Karol G.
Thai pop star Lisa then took the stage to perform her songs “I’m a New Woman” and “Rockstar.”
She was followed by Shawn Mendes, playing “Nobody Knows, and Teddy Swims, performing “Lose Control.”
Sabrina Carpenter performed “Taste” and “Espresso” alongside dancers dressed as astronauts and aliens — appropriate for ceremony’s “Moon Person” trophies.
She was followed by Anitta — joined by DJ Khaled and Fat Joe — to perform “Paradise” and other songs.
Katy Perry, introduced by partner Orlando Bloom, performed a medley of her songs, including “Perfect Storm,” “E.T.,” “California Girls,” “Teenage Dream,” “I Kissed a Girl,” “Firework” and “Lifetimes.” She was joined by Doechii on the UBS Arena stage in New York to sing their new collaboration, “I’m His, He’s Mine.”
Perry then accepted the Video Vanguard Award.
Tyla accepted the Best Afrobeats award for “Water” on the UBS Arena stage. It was her first VMA.
Fellow Best New Artist nominee Chappell Roan made her VMAs debut in a full suit of armor, singing “Good Luck, Babe!” in front of a flaming castle. She was introduced by RuPaul‘s Drag Race winner Sasha Colby.
Megan Thee Stallion took a break from hosting duties to perform “BOA,” followed by “Mamushi,” featuring Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba.
“Mamushi” earned the award for Best Trending Video.
Megan’s performance was followed by Benson Boone, singing “Beautiful Things.”
Sabrina Carpenter was presented with the Song of the Year trophy for her song, “Espresso,” followed by a performance by Rauw Alejandro.
Halsey rode a bicycle out onto the stage, where she opened a garage door to reveal her band and play “Ego.”
The award for Best Alternative went to Benson Boone for “Beautiful Things;” Song of the Summer went to Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone for “Fortnight;” and Best Rock was given to Lenny Kravitz for “Human.”
Lisa scored the Best K-pop award for “Rockstar.”
Lenny Kravitz then took to the stage to perform a medley of songs, including “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” “Human” and “Fly Away.”
He was followed by Camila Cabello, singing “June Gloom.”
GloRilla then took the stage to perform “TGIF.”
The 40th anniversary of Def Jam Records was recognized with a medley performance by LL Cool J and Public Enemy.
The VMAs were voted on by fans, and voting for Best New Artist remained active during the show.
Taylor Swift leds the nominees with 10 nominations, including Artist of the Year. Post Malone followed with nine nominations, while Ariana Grande, Eminem and Sabrina Carpenter were each up for six awards.
The Video of the Year nominees are: “We Can’t Be Friends” by Ariana Grande, “Lunch” by Billie Eilish, “Paint the Town Red” by Doja Cat, “Houdini” by Eminem, “Snooze” by SZA and “Fortnight” by Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone.
Chappell Roan arrives on the red carpet at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at the UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y., on September 11, 2024. Chappell Roan will perform and is nominated for Best New Artist, Performance of the Year, Best Trending Video and Song of the Summer. Photo by Derek C. French/UPI | License Photo
