Taylor Swift shares behind-the-scenes glimpse of Patient Zero music video ahead of MTV VMAs debut

Taylor Swift continued to fuel anticipation for her Patient Zero music video on Sunday, hours ahead of its premiere at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs).

The 36-year-old singer-songwriter used Instagram Stories to upload behind-the-scenes footage discussing her thought process behind the release.

In a short clip recorded on the video set, she reflected, ‘Walking through here and seeing the way that [cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki] has lit this and the way the sets are and how brilliantly Ethan [Tobman] has done this production design, I’m kind of rethinking the release of the video.’

She cheekily added, ‘Like, I need to figure out a way to get this on TV or something.’

Swift joked in the March 2025 recording, ‘I’m like, Ethan, google: when are the VMAs?’

And the songstress wrote along the bottom of the video, ‘Turns out the @VMAS are Sept 27 aka today.’ 

Taylor Swift continued to fuel anticipation for her Patient Zero music video on Sunday, hours ahead of its premiere at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs); pictured at the 2024 MTV VMAs

The 36-year-old singer-songwriter used Instagram Stories to upload behind-the-scenes footage discussing her thought process behind the release

Swift, who directed the Patient Zero visual, will receive MTV’s inaugural Artist Director Honors at Sunday evening’s awards show.

Teasers shared online last week revealed Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell as co-stars in the project.

The song is about a woman who escapes a toxic relationship, then helps guide her ex’s current girlfriend, who is also suffering. 

‘The story behind me writing the song Patient Zero is that I was hanging out with a bunch of friends, and one of my friends told us that she had been reached out to by the new girlfriend of an ex of hers, asking for guidance on if she had had the same experiences with this guy,’ Swift told the UK’s Capital FM on Friday.

According to Swift, ‘everyone’ in the group ‘immediately started saying, like, “Oh, I’ve been through that too,” and telling the stories of when this kind of reach-out had happened for them.’

She also said she was thrilled she ‘got to explore’ the sticky situation in a song.

‘I thought to myself, if this has happened to all of us, it’s such an interesting kind of angle on humanity and on relationships, and I wonder if I could write something from the perspective of getting this phone call, and really only from the perspective and the side of the phone call of the ex who’s been through it before,’ she explained. 

Swift announced the new single on Tuesday, and on Friday she released the follow-up to last year’s The Life of a Showgirl album, titled, The Encore.

The video stars Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell 

Johnson (L) and Swift (R) pictured in a still from the impending video 

Patient Zero is one of four songs featured on The Life of A Showgirl: The Encore

In addition to Patient Zero, the collection of new music includes the songs Cleveland!, Pink Clouding, and Babylon.

Unfortunately for the Grammy-winning music artist, critics have branded the majority of the tracks ‘duds.’

Early reviews panned the tunes, calling them ‘derivative and flat.’ 

However, Swifties are fully embracing her latest output, with Patient Zero crowned Spotify’s most-streamed song by a female artist in a single day this year.

The platform also revealed that Swift has become the most-streamed female artist in a single day in 2026. 

Fans can also look forward to the star’s forthcoming appearance at the Country Music Awards in November.

Her song I Knew It, I Knew You, from the Toy Story 5 soundtrack, is nominated for Single of the Year alongside two Ella Langley songs, as well as tracks by Lainey Wilson and Cody Johnson. 

Swift last showed up at the CMAs in 2016, when she presented Garth Brooks with the award for Entertainer of the Year. 

This year’s event will take place on November 18 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, hosted by Lainey Wilson.

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