A superstar reunion, a Swift surprise, pink-veiled Madonna fans and more.
Taylor Swift and Dakota Johnson onstage as Swift accepts the Artist Director Honors at 2026 MTV Video Music Awards held at Peacock Theater on September 27, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
Rich Polk/Billboard
It was a big night for Madonna and Taylor Swift at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, where both superstars came into the night as the year’s top nominees — and they were also the evening’s biggest winners. Madonna not only opened the show with a medley of songs from her Confessions II album (joined by Sabrina Carpenter and Charli xcx), she walked away with seven trophies, including three wins onstage (artist of the year, best dance and best collaboration). As for Swift, she won a trio of Moon Persons: the first-ever Artist Director Honors, video of the year (both presented onstage) and best direction.
But, there were many moments that viewers at home did not see — including an encounter with Madonna and Swift (more on that in a second) — inside the venue at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles. In said theater, which seemed both intimate and immense thanks to the expansive stage (with a towering Moon Person acting as an enormous anchoring set piece), early arrivals caught final preparations from the production crew – including final instructions to the recruited audience of gleeful fans that surrounded the stage.
Once the show got underway, the mixture of veteran acts (Madonna, host Snoop Dogg) and newer faces (LISA, Sienna Spiro) kept the audience engaged. Seemingly the biggest in-venue response went to the Michael tribute, where the audience was on its feet the entire time — no doubt thanks to the fact that Michael’s sterling catalog of hits was well-known by the crowd.
Here’s a rundown of some of the moments viewers did not see at home on TV during the MTV Video Music Awards.
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Madonna and Swift Have a Moment
During a commercial break, and shortly before the presentation of the Artist Director Honors award to Swift, the superstar swooped into the audience, causing pandemonium as fans realized what was happening. As Team Swift entered the room, making a beeline for their front row seats, near an also-front-row Madonna. The two entertainers, who have performed together onstage before at the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards), hugged and chatted for a moment before Swift hurried to her seat just as the show was getting underway once more. Could another pairing between the two icons be brewing?
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Pink Veils & Madonna Buzz
Before the show even started, the buzz for Madonna’s show-opening performance and appearance was in full force in the lobby of the Peacock. Fans were decked out in pink veils (a nod to the veil that the Queen of Pop dons on the cover of the Confessions II album) as they were lined up for concessions and to file their way to their seats. Further, Billboard spotted a number of jovial execs from Team Madonna and her label, Warner Records, buzzing about, including her longtime manager Guy Oseary (who got an onstage shout-out from Madonna during one of her acceptance speeches).
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Swift Stays Put
After Swift accepted the first-ever Artist Director Honors, presented by actress Dakota Johnson, Swift introduced the world premiere of her new music video for “Patient Zero” (in which Johnson co-stars with Colin Farrell and Swift). Then, as the video unspooled on the big screen inside the venue, Swift and Johnson turned to depart the stage. But, as the opening notes of the clip were heard, Swift and Johnson stopped and turned around, with Swift excitedly pointing at the unfolding film. The pair ended up staying onstage for the duration of the world premiere, with Swift vibing, singing-along and throwing her arms in the air, clearly enjoying the major moment.
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A Final Swift Entrance
In the show’s final commercial break, Swift and her team slipped back into the crowd, with Swift retaking her front row seat. Only one award was left for the night: video of the year, in which Swift won for “The Fate of Ophelia.” It was the sixth time she took home that trophy – the most of any act in VMAs’ history.
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A Pre-Taped Mars and Musgraves
While most of the night’s performances were staged live onstage, two were pretaped: Mars’ “Dance With Me” and Musgraves’ tribute to Dolly Parton with the latter’s iconic “I Will Always Love You.” While it was obvious Mars’ number was not filmed in the room (it was recorded at a stop of his The Romantic Tour), Musgraves’ performance may have fooled viewers at home, thanks to slight-of-hand production and editing.
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Shaboozey’s Made-for-TV Bar Fight
For Shaboozey’s medley of “Cowgirl” and “High Noon,” viewers at home were treated to a rich, stunt-filled spectacle of a performance housed inside a saloon before the number migrated outside the bar for Gunna’s arrival. For fans inside the venue, barely a blip of the first half of the performance was visible, as it was essentially entirely staged inside an enclosed bar set onstage. (Truly, to viewers in the audience, you may have wondered how much of what you saw on TV was actually happening live inside the saloon set.)
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Paris Hilton In Promo Mode
Multi-media star Hilton didn’t miss an opportunity to draw attention from the crowd during commercial breaks. As she entered and exited the audience, the entrepreneur was capturing her own video content, armed with glam lighting directed on her as she spritzed perfume (we assume her own).
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Teaching the Crowd How to Applaud
Amusingly, in the 30 minutes before showtime, the production crew was onstage explaining to the recruited fans (brought in by the show) how to applaud. To be clear — these are the fans that were imported to fill the spaces immediately next to the stage, and were likely seen on-camera during performances and acceptance speeches. The crew explained to said fans (who had their phones put away for the duration of the show) that they should applaud with their hands above their head, as it would look the best on-camera.
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Commercial Break Tunes
Inside the Peacock Theater during commercial breaks, the audience was treated to a variety of tunes pumped into the venue. Among the selections: N.W.A’s “Straight Outta Compton,” Malcom Todd’s “Earrings,” Victony’s “SLICK,” Chxrry’s “Hall of Fame,” Qote’s “iloveitiloveitiloveit (House)” and Joey Valence and Brae’s “THE BADDEST (BADDER)” featuring Ayesha Erotica.
