Pop superstar Taylor Swift on Monday lit up MTV’s annual Video Music Awards, winning the Video of the Year award and nodding to her winning song’s celebration of LGTBQ rights in accepting her prize.
Swift was among the top award-getters at this show, held in Newark, New Jersey.
Swift nabbed the coveted award for her track You Need to Calm Down on the heels of releasing her new album Lover.
Photo: AFP
“In this video several points were made,” Swift, wearing an oversized rainbow-colored suit jacket, said to applause.
That it won the fan-chosen award shows that “you want a world where we are all treated equally under the law,” the 29-year-old said, noting the video ended with a petition in support of the Equality Act, which would prevent discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation.
Swift also won the Video for Good award, thanks to her anti-homophobic message — although when the clip was released, just in time for Pride Month, the star was accused by some critics of using LGBTQ imagery as a marketing technique.
Hip hop iconoclast Missy Elliott ignited the crowd with a performance befitting her status as this year’s Video Vanguard Award recipient, the night’s top prize.
“I promised I wouldn’t cry; I cry every award,” Elliott, wearing a hoodie tracksuit in black leather with gold trim topped with a visor, said before nodding to her storied career: “I’ve worked diligently for over two decades.”
Breakout artist Billie Eilish, who could not attend because she is on tour in Russia, won the trophy for Best New Artist.
Spaniard Rosalia and Colombian J Balvin took home the prize for top Latin video for the hit Con Altura. Overnight star Lil Nas X won the prize for Best Song thanks to his wildly viral Old Town Road, while Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello won Best Collaboration for Senorita.
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