Taylor Swift released the music video for her latest single “Patient Zero” during the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday evening.
Swift created the video after accepting the first art director honor. It stars Swift, alongside Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell – Johnson presented Swift with the honor on stage. The clip features Johnson as Farrell’s current lover. It’s clear from the video that this is not a healthy relationship. Throughout the video, Swift mirrors Johnson, as she sings about knowing what the actress is going through because she was the man’s “patient zero.”
After an incident at an event, Farrell makes a comment to Johnson that he thought “she was different”, leading the actress to question who she is different from. The video shows Swift experiencing exactly what Johnson experienced, revealing that Farrell poisoned Swift, leading to her death. The clip ends where it began, with Johnson looking at a grave, but it is now revealed to be Swift’s grave. The actress leaves a rose atop the headstone for the woman.
“Patient Zero” is one of four new songs on the singer’s special deluxe edition of her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl: Encore Edition. She released the new version of the album on Friday, which featured the other new songs “Babylon,” “Pink Clouding” and “Cleveland!”
“About a year ago, you did something truly unfathomable. Something that completely blew my mind… You gave ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ the biggest album debut week in history,” Swift wrote on Instagram last week to announce the album. “I took a trip to Sweden to celebrate with Max and Shellback, my two collaborators on this album. Really, we just wanted to reflect and understand how grateful we were for the moment we were there, but there was a studio there and we did what we do when we feel something: we wrote more songs. I hope you like them, because they were born out of pure gratitude for your exuberance and celebration of the album we made.”
The pop superstar arrived just before the show, wearing a black dress with a mesh cutout and a shimmering silver maxi skirt. Her hair was styled in a long bob. She stopped to take photos on the red carpet before the show.
Hosted by Snoop Dogg, the 2026 MTV VMAs aired on CBS on MTV. The show takes place live from Los Angeles – well, almost live. The Ravens-Cowboys game on CBS delayed the televised start of the broadcast by about 20 minutes; However, the ceremony started in person on time, meaning viewers in Los Angeles get to see what happens before viewers at home.
This is the first time the awards show has been held in Los Angeles in nearly a decade – the last time being in 2017, when Katy Perry hosted the ceremony at the Forum. The ceremony is produced by Gunpowder & Sky. Van Toffler is a producer. Den of Thieves’ Jesse Ignjatovic, Barb Bialkowski and Bruce Gillmer serve as executive producers alongside Barry Barclay and Floris Bauer. Melanie Block serves as co-executive producer, while Gary Lanvy serves as co-producer. Snoop also serves as executive producer alongside producers Sara Ramaker and Jasmin Ratansi. Jen Proctor is executive producer of talent.
The 2026 VMAs kicked off with a cameo-filled performance from pop icon Madonna – Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX, Sombr, Seth Rogen and more made appearances throughout, with the former two performing alongside Madonna. It was the legendary singer’s first time performing at the awards show in 23 years.
Other artists at the show included Lisa, Sienna Spiro, GENER8ION, Kacey Musgraves, Teddy Swims, Sombr, Gunna and Yung Lean and more. Taylor Swift received the first MTV VMA Artist Director Honors. Nirvana received the emblematic prize for video avant-garde. The show also included tributes to the late Dolly Parton and George Michael.
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