Aug. 23, 2026

One VMA Win From the All-Time Record, Dolly Parton Sends a Thank-You Note, and the First Instagram Post in Over a Month

Show Notes
Transcript

Taylor Swift is one win away from becoming the most-awarded artist in VMA history. She picked up nine nominations for the 2026 Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year and Artist of the Year, and she's currently tied with Beyoncé at 30 career wins — so a single Moon Person on September 27 breaks the tie for good. Lyla gets into the numbers, plus Dolly Parton's video thank-you for the $2 million the couple gave her Imagination Library, and Taylor's first Instagram post in over a month, which turned out not to be about her at all.

🏆 Nine nominations, second only to Madonna's eleven. Fan voting is open through September 25; the show airs live September 27 from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on CBS and MTV.

📚 Dolly Parton posts a video thanking Taylor and Travis for their gift to the Imagination Library and jokes she'd like to have their firstborn.

📱 The first post back: an Instagram story celebrating Phoebe Bridgers' birthday and her new album.

💍 Taylor attends audio engineer Laura Sisk's wedding solo, in navy embroidered with gold, with a new side-swept fringe.

👗 Still no wedding dress photos.

Check out the new facebook chat page here. Come join the community! It's small now and we need your help growing.

Taylor Swift Today now has an official Facebook community! Connect with fellow Swifties to discuss all the incredible revelations from Taylor's New Heights appearance. Search "Taylor Swift Today" on Facebook or check out instagram and be sure to follow us to join thousands of fans worldwide. Whether you're analyzing lyrics, sharing concert memories, or just celebrating Taylor's new era, our community is the perfect place to connect with people who love Taylor as much as you do.

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CaAl Rocashawk Media.

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Hey everyone, I'm Lila and welcome back to Taylor Swift.

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Today big week for our girl.

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She finally broke her social media silence for the first

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time since the wedding, and no, before you start screaming,

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it was not the dress. She is on the verge

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of making music history. Next month, a country legend serenaded

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her with a thank you, and she debuted a whole

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new look. Lots of good stuff. So let's get into it.

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Let's start with the moment swifties had been refreshing their

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feeds for. After more than a month of total quiet,

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Taylor finally posted, and in the most Taylor Swift move imaginable,

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she used her big return to social media not to

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talk about herself at all, but to lift up a friend.

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This week, she shared an Instagram story celebrating Phoebe Bridgers,

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who was both having a birthday and releasing a brand

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new album called Lost Weekend. Taylor gushed about the record,

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calling it an absolute triumph, saying she had not been

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able to stop listening, and praising Phoebe for writing about

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grief with so much honesty and vulnerability. She wished her

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a happy birthday and told her she loved her.

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Now, I know a lot of you.

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Clicked on that notification hoping it was finally the wedding photos,

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and I felt that too. But honestly, this is exactly

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who Taylor is. Her first move back was to hand

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the spotlight to a friend on her big day. That

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is the same woman who this summer alone has been

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showing up to celebrate everybody else's milestones. She could have

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posted anything, she chose to say, Look how great my

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friend is. That is a class act and it tells

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you her head is in a really happy, generous place

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right now. But the story that has real stakes attached

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to it is this next one, because Taylor is standing

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right on the edge of history. This week, MTV announced

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the nominations for the twenty twenty six Video Music Awards,

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and Taylor pulled in nine nominations. Nine She is up

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for the two biggest prizes of the night, Video of

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the Year and Artist of the Year, both largely thanks

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to her song The Fate of Ophelia, plus a whole

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slate of creative categories like Best Pop, Best Direction, Best Choreography,

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and more. And here is why this year matters more

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than most. Right Now Taylor is tied with Beyonce for

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the most VMA wins of all time. They each have thirty,

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which means if Taylor wins even a single award on

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that stage next month, she becomes the most awarded artist

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in the entire history of the VMAs.

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One win. That is all it.

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Takes to stand completely alone at the top. Now she

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is not running away with the nominations this year. Madonna

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actually leads the whole field with eleven nods. So we

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have got a genuine pop queen showdown on our hands.

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Three icons across three generations going head to head. It

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is going to be a night. And here is the

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part where you come in, because you actually have a

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say in this. Fan voting is open right now and

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it runs through September twenty fifth, So if you want

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to help Taylor make history, you can go vote. The

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awards air live on September twenty seventh. I will be

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watching with my whole heart, and honestly, the idea of

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Taylor breaking that record while she is a.

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Glowing newlywed in the middle.

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Of the happiest year of her life, that is a

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storybook ending if I have ever heard one. Speaking of

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storybook Stick around because when we come back. A country

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music legend sent Taylor and Travis the sweetest video message,

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and Taylor stepped out with a brand new look, stay

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with me, welcome back. Okay, this next one genuinely made

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me tear up a little. You remember how around their wedding,

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Taylor and Travis quietly donated twenty six million dollars to

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charities all across the country. Well, one of those gifts

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was two million dollars to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, the

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incredible program Dolly founded that mails free books every month

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to millions of little kids from the time they are

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born until they start school. It is one of the

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most beloved charities in the country, and this week Dolly

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said thank you in the most Dolly Parton way possible.

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She posted a video message directly to the couple, absolutely beaming,

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telling them thank you, thank you, thank you, and saying

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she was blown away by their generosity. Then, because she

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is Dolly, she could not resist a joke, telling Taylor

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and Travis that when they have their firstborn baby, she

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would like to have it because it is going to

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be one special kid. And then she signed off by

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softly singing them a line from her most famous song

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of all time and blowing a kiss to the camera.

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A living legend serenading you with I Will Always Love

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You as a thank you note, I mean, come on,

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That is the kind of moment money genuinely cannot buy.

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It is a beautiful reminder that underneath all the spectacle,

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that twenty six million dollars is out there doing real good,

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putting books in the hands of kids who need them. Now,

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let's talk about something a little more lighthearted, because Taylor

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has been having herself quite the social summer, and she

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showed up to her latest event with a surprise. This

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past weekend, she attended the wedding of her longtime friend

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and collaborator, Laura Sisk And if that name does not

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ring a bell, it should because Laura is one of

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Taylor's most important behind the scenes people. She is an

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audio engineer who has worked on some of Taylor's biggest

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albums going all the way back years, including Reputation, Folklore,

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and Midnights. So this was Taylor showing up for someone

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who has helped build her sound for over a decade.

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The wedding was held at a.

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Gorgeous legendary recording studio out in the English countryside, and

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the guest list was a little who's who of Taylor's

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music world, including Sabrina Carpenter, Phoebe Bridgers, and her longtime

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producer Jack Antonoff. Taylor flew solo for this one, since

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Travis is deep in training camp with the Chiefs right now.

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She looked absolutely elegant.

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In a navy blue gown embroidered with gold leaves and flowers,

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and she showed off that enormous engagement ring alongside her

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new wedding band. But the detail that had fans buzzing

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a brand new haircut. Taylor swept her signature blunt bangs

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off to the side and when a little shorter, and

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the whole look felt fresh and grown up. And dare

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I say, very newlywed with a new chapter, energy, a

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new name, a new era, and now a new fringe.

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I am into it. And of course, before we go

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the update, you are all waiting for the dress. Still

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no photos. It has now been well over a month

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and Taylor has not shared a single official image from

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her wedding day, and at this point, the leading theory

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among fans and reporters alike is that the silence is

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the strategy. The thinking is that she is holding everything

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back because she is planning to reveal it all as

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part of her own bigger project, on her own terms,

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in her own time.

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So the weight continues.

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But if this week taught us anything it is that

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Taylor is going to surprise us with the timing when

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we least expect it. So there is your week. Taylor

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came back online to celebrate a friend. She is one

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went away from making VMA history, Dolly Parton saying her

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a thank you, and she debuted a whole new look

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at yet another beautiful wedding. She is thriving, plain and simple.

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That is our show. I'm Lilah and this week I

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have got a real assignment for you. Head over and

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vote for Taylor at the VMA's before voting closes on

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September twenty fifth, and let's help her make history.

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Then leave me a comment on Spotify.

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And tell me what you think of the new haircut,

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yes or no, and turn your notifications on because the

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second that wedding dress finally hits Taylor's Instagram, we are

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dropping everything to bring it straight to you. Come find

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us on Facebook too, just search Taylor Swift today and

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share this with the friend who still checks Taylor's page

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ten times a day, saying thanks so much for hanging

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out with me today.

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I'm Lilah and I will see you next time.