Yesterday she weighed into the US election. Today, Taylor Swift was back doing what she does best

A day after endorsing Kamala Harris for president, Taylor Swift has cleaned up at the MTV Video Music Awards, setting a record as the most-awarded solo artist in the show’s history – and overtaking Beyonce – with 30 trophies.

Swift won seven trophies on the night, including video of the year for Fortnight, her Tortured Poets Department collaboration with Post Malone, marking the third time in a row and fifth time overall she’d won the top prize.

Taylor Swift, with Post Malone, breaks another record, this time at the MTV VMAs.Credit: Getty Images for MTV

In her final acceptance speech, as fans chanted her name, she thanked her collaborators – including actor Ethan Hawke and Barbie cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto – on the video, which she also wrote and directed.

She also thanked Travis Kelce, pointedly calling the NFL player “my boyfriend” despite recent speculation over an impending break-up. “Everything this man touches turns to happiness, fun and magic,” Swift said.

The awards show, hosted by rapper Megan Thee Stallion, was also an official coming out for the year’s biggest pop breakouts.

Sabrina Carpenter took out song of the year for her smash Espresso. Living up to her fun girl persona, she performed onstage with an alien who she then kissed, evoking Madonna and Britney Spears’ famous smooch at the 2003 VMAs.

Sabrina Carpenter performing Espresso during the ceremony.Credit: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Chappell Roan won for best new artist, and dedicated her win to “queer kids” in the US’s conservative Midwest. “Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t be exactly who you wanna be, bitch,” the 26-year-old said in her speech.

Roan’s Joan of Arc-inspired performance, which she opened by shooting a flaming crossbow arrow across the stage, was among the show’s highlights.

Earlier, she had clashed with a photographer on the red carpet who had yelled at her to “shut the f--- up”. The artist, who has publicly spoken out about the toll of her newfound fame, clapped back at the photographer, earning support from fans and fellow artists online who praised her for standing up for herself.

The decidedly international show also featured performances from Colombian artist Karol G, K-pop star Lisa, Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro, and Brazilian star Annita.

It opened with Eminem reprising his VMA performance of 2000, when he entered the arena with a gaggle of doppelgängers. At 51, he was more demure this time, performing the wistful Somebody Save Me with country singer Jelly Roll, a song filled with regret over his years of neglectful parenting.

In a case of peculiar timing, Katy Perry – currently in the midst of a catastrophic career comeback with new album 143 – was honoured with the show’s Video Vanguard Award, a lifetime achievement award whose past winners include Madonna, Britney Spears, and the award’s namesake, Michael Jackson.

Introduced by her partner, Orlando Bloom, Perry performed a medley that took in hits California Gurls, Teenage Dream and Firework, but casually ignored her disastrous new single, Woman’s World. “I did all that on the first day of my period too, can you believe it?” she said in her acceptance speech.

Orlando Bloom introduces Katy Perry at the VMAs.Credit: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Thursday’s VMAs were the 40th. A wilder cousin to the Grammys, the music industry’s main awards, the show has a long reputation for creating cultural moments that live on in infamy, from Lady Gaga’s meat dress to Spears’ Gimme More debacle to Kanye West’s onstage interruption of Swift 15 years ago.

While no such controversy occurred at this year’s show, in Swift’s record-breaking run it was a familiar name who claimed the night’s headlines.

Thanking those viewers who voted in her publicly decided wins, she used the moment to urge her fans aged over 18 to “register to vote for something else: the presidential election”.