Snubs and Surprises in the 2023 MTV Video Music Award Nominations

Taylor Swift, who last year became the first three-time winner of the VMAs’ marquee award, video of the year, is nominated in that category again this year for “Anti-Hero.” Could she possibly win that award again when the VMAs are presented at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Sept. 12?

Of course she could. “Anti-Hero” received seven nods, more than any other video this year. SZA’s “Kill Bill,” Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” and the Sam Smith/Kim Petras collab “Unholy” each received five.

This is Swift’s sixth nomination for video of the year, which puts her in a tie for third place with Drake. Eminem leads with eight nominations in the category, followed by Beyoncé with seven.

If “Anti-Hero” wins, Swift would become the first artist to win back-to-back awards for video of the year. She won last year for “All Too Well: The Short Film.” Her first two wins in the category were for “Bad Blood,” a collab with Kendrick Lamar (2015) and “You Need to Calm Down” (2019).

Swift is nominated in eight categories. She’s the year’s only artist to be nominated for all three of the highest-profile awards – video of the year, artist of the year and song of the year. MTV has yet to announce who will receive this year’s Video Vanguard award. If Swift takes that prize too, that could further boost her tally.

The VMA nominations were announced on Tuesday (Aug. 8). Here’s the full nominations list. And here are some noteworthy snubs and surprises in this year’s nominations: