Taylor Swift came into this year’s MTV Video Music Awards as the most-nominated artist and still managed to exceed our wildest expectations. She walked away with nine out of eleven awards she was nominated for, including the coveted video of the year with “Anti-Hero”.
Swift’s “Anti-Hero” was one of the songs nominated for the night’s main award, along with, Doja Cat’s “Attention”, Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers”, Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl”, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire”, Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy”, and SZA’s “Kill Bill”.
Swift managed to beat tough competition to win this trophy with “Anti-Hero”, along with the song of the year, best pop, best direction, best visual effects, best editing, and best cinematography. She also collected the trophy for artist of the year, show of the summer with The Eras Tour, and album of the year with Midnights.
Swift was just one award away from breaking Peter Gabriel’s all-time record for most MTV VMAs won in a single year. She also reached the second spot on the VMAs leaderboard with 23 awards, behind Beyoncé with 25—not counting two with Destiny’s Child and an additional two as part of The Carters.
The list of major winners also included Ice Spice (best new artist), Blackpink (group of the year), and Karol G and Shakira’s “TQG” (best collaboration). The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards took place in Newark, New Jersey on September 12, with Nicki Minaj hosting the show.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS AT THE 2023 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS:
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – Republic Records
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Taylor Swift
SONG OF THE YEAR
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – Republic Records
VIDEO VANGUARD AWARD
Shakira
GLOBAL ICON AWARD
Diddy
BEST NEW ARTIST
Ice Spice – 10K Projects / Capitol Records
PUSH PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
April 2023: TOMORROW X TOGETHER – “Sugar Rush Ride” – BIGHIT MUSIC / Republic Records
BEST COLLABORATION
KAROL G, Shakira – “TQG” – Universal Music Latino
BEST POP
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – Republic Records
BEST HIP-HOP
Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl” – Republic Records
BEST R&B
SZA – “Shirt” – Top Dawg Entertainment / RCA Records
BEST ALTERNATIVE
Lana Del Rey ft. Jon Batiste – “Candy Necklace” – Interscope Records
BEST ROCK
Måneskin – “THE LONELIEST” – Arista Records
BEST LATIN
Anitta – “Funk Rave” – Republic Records
BEST K-POP
Stray Kids – “S-Class” – JYP / Republic
BEST AFROBEATS
Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down” – Mavin Global Holdings Ltd / Jonzing World
VIDEO FOR GOOD
Dove Cameron – “Breakfast” – Columbia Records
BEST DIRECTION
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – Republic Records – Directed by Taylor Swift
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – Republic Records – Cinematography by Rina Yang
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – Republic Records – Visual Effects by Parliament
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
BLACKPINK – “Pink Venom” – YG Entertainment / Interscope Records – Choreography by Kiel Tutin, Sienna Lalau, Lee Jung (YGX), Taryn Cheng (YGX)
BEST ART DIRECTION
Doja Cat – “Attention” – Kemosabe Records / RCA Records – Art Direction by Spencer Graves
BEST EDITING
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – Republic Records – Edited by Chancler Haynes
