Watch Taylor Swift Haunt Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell in “Patient Zero” Video
Cara Delevingne makes an appearance too
Taylor Swift premiered the new music video for her The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore track “Patient Zero” at the 2026 Video Music Awards on Sunday night. The clip, which co-stars Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell, follows a slowly dissolving marriage (Johnson and Farrell), while the husband’s now-deceased ex-wife (Swift) haunts them from a distance. Cara Delevingne makes an appearance too. There’s a quasi twist you’ll probably see coming but I won’t spoil it here. The video is not on YouTube yet so you’ll have to head to Spotify or Apple Music to watch.
The VMAs were a fitting occasion for Swift to drop a video, as she received the last-minute, inaugural Artist Director Honors this year, a new award reserved for acts “whose work behind the camera has expanded the possibilities of music video and advanced the art of visual storytelling,” an MTV spokesperson said in a statement. Swift was up for nine VMAs total on Sunday, making her the second-most nominated artist of the night, next to Madonna’s 13.
The premiere also capped off a busy week for Swift, who dropped an expanded edition of her 2025 album on Friday. Swift wrote the four new songs on The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, "Patient Zero,” “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding,” and “Babylon”, with TLOAS co-producers Max Martin and Shellback.
Follow along with all of Pitchfork’s coverage of the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards .
