Global star Taylor Swift unveiled the new music video for her song “Patient Zero” during the 2026 MTV VMAs, featuring stars Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell.
Swift and Johnson appear in the video as two women who were both involved with the same man, played by Colin Farrell.
The story begins with the discovery of a relationship linking Swift’s ex-boyfriend to Johnson, before the two women grow closer and appear together in several scenes with matching looks.
As the video unfolds, Swift tries to help Johnson deal with her troubled relationship, while she herself experiences mysterious symptoms of illness. In the end, the video reveals that the man had secretly been poisoning Johnson, the same way he had previously done with Swift’s character.
Swift announced the world premiere of the video after receiving the new “Artist Director Honors” award during the MTV ceremony, an award created to honor artists whose directorial work has helped advance the art of the music video and visual storytelling.
Swift said that over the course of her nearly twenty-year career, she has taken part in around 60 music videos, writing and directing 18 of them, and praised her fans for supporting her work and following the artistic details behind it.
“Patient Zero” was released days before the ceremony as part of the expanded edition of the album “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore,” alongside three new songs: “Pink Clouding,” “Babylon” and “Cleveland!”
Swift explained that the new songs were born during a trip to Sweden that brought her together with producers Max Martin and Shellback, where the trio decided to return to the studio and write more songs to celebrate the album’s major success.
