Taylor Swift gives frenemy Katy Perry a standing ovation at 2024 MTV VMAs as she shakes off bad blood 10 years after feud
Taylor Swift proved she has zero beef with Katy Perry as she cheered her on in the audience during the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday in New York.
The Anti-Hero hitmaker, 34, gave Perry, 39, a standing ovation after she delivered an emotional speech while accepting the coveted Video Vanguard Award.
Swift – who started off the night with a big win — passionately clapped for her frenemy in footage caught by MTV’s audience cam.
She was also seen belting out the lyrics to Dark Horse as Perry performed a show-stopping medley of her biggest hits on the VMA stage.
Swift was seated next to pals Margaret Qualley and Suki Waterhouse and all three were up on their feet for the entirety of Katy’s incredible 20-minute performance.
🚨| Taylor Swift gives Katy Perry a standing ovation #VMAs pic.twitter.com/1e7qEjPsRZ
— The Swift Society (@TheSwiftSociety) September 12, 2024
Swift and Perry’s friendship has come a long way since their infamous feud that kicked off over a decade ago.
It all started over a reported falling out over backup dancers who left Swift’s tour to join Perry’s Prismatic World Tour.
Soon after, Swift released the brutal diss track Bad Blood, which she confirmed to Rolling Stone was aimed at another famous female singer who ‘did something so horrible’ to her.
Swift also declared that she and the unnamed singer — who many assumed to be Perry — were ‘straight-up enemies.’
As Bad Blood dominated the airwaves, Perry appeared to accuse Swift of ‘[capitalizing] on the take down of a woman’ in an infamous 2015 tweet.
In 2017, Perry appeared to respond to Bad Blood with her own diss track Swish Swish which featured Nicki Minaj, who also had beef with Swift.
But after years of tension that played out in interview bits and indirect tweets, Perry made the first move in mending their friendship in 2018.
She did so by sending Swift an actual olive branch in 2018 on the opening night of her Reputation Tour.
A year later, the duo publicly buried the hatchet by starring alongside one another in Swift’s You Need To Calm Down music video, which saw them dressed as a hamburger and fries.
Since then, the duo have supported one another publicly, with Perry attending one of Swift’s Eras Tour shows earlier this year.
Music’s biggest stars are back for another night of celebration at MTV’s legendary Video Music Awards.
🚨| Taylor Swift gives Katy Perry a standing ovation #VMAs pic.twitter.com/1e7qEjPsRZ
— The Swift Society (@TheSwiftSociety) September 12, 2024
This year’s festivities will be hosted by rapper Megan Thee Stallion and will be held at the UBS Arena in Long Island on September 11.
Stallion, 29, is herself nominated for five awards, including best collaboration and best hip-hop. She previously won best power anthem for Hot Girl Summer.
The evening will be a who’s who of music superstars with Sabrina Carpenter, Katy Perry, Camila Cabello, GloRilla, Rauw Alejandro, Benson Boone, Halsey, LISA, Lenny Kravitz, Anitta, Karol G, LL Cool J, and Shawn Mendes all set to perform at the show.
The MTV VMAs will air live on 8pm ET/PT.
This year’s recipient of the legendary Video Vanguard Award will be Katy Perry.
‘Katy is a musical powerhouse and true pop culture icon,’ said Bruce Gillmer, chief content officer of music at Paramount+ and president of music, music talent, programming and events at Paramount in a statement.
‘With her game changing creative vision, she has become a global phenomenon and taken over the world’s biggest stages,’ added Gillmer.
Past winners of the Video Vanguard Award include David Bowie, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, and Pink.
The award comes as Perry prepares to release her upcoming seventh studio album 143.
Her comeback single from the album, Woman’s World, flopped in the charts following its release over the summer.
As for accolades, Taylor Swift is the most-nominated artist at the event with an impressive 10 nods to her name.
The hitmaker, 34, has the chance to make history as she could become the first artist to win Video Of The Year five times. She already holds the record for most Video of the Year victories with four trophies under her name.
Her collaboration with Post Malone, the track Fortnight, is up for Video of the Year.
Post Malone trails Taylor by just one nomination as he has earned nine total with most of them being from their collaboration.
The one nomination he received without Taylor’s assistance was for Best Collaboration for I Had Some Help, his track with Morgan Wallen.
Also up for six nominations are Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, and Eminem.
Like Megan Thee Stallion, SZA is up for five nominations.
Meanwhile, Olivia Rodrigo, Teddy Swims, and Blackpink member Lisa all tied with four nods each.
Finally Benson Boone, Anitta, Dua Lipa, Tyla, Bleachers, and GloRilla all have three nominations.
