The star scooped the prize for her music video for The Man, taken from her 2019 album Lover - making her the first solo female artist to earn the honour.

"This is amazing," Swift said, as she accepted the award virtually from her home.

"This is the very first video that I've ever directed on my own. I'm just so grateful for this," she exalted.

"I want to take an opportunity to say thank you to the team who believed in me as a first-time director and made this video with me," she acknowledged.

Swift continued: "I was told that this was an industry-voted award. So I want to say thank you to everyone in the industry who voted for this video. But I also really want to thank the fans because you are the only reason why the industry cares about anything that I do."

She added: "Everything that you guys have done — Folklore this summer — I'm just so blown away and taken aback by your generosity to me."

She concluded: "So, thank you for everything. I hope I get to see you soon."

In the music video, Swift transforms into a brunette, bearded man, whose bad behaviour, including urinating on a wall and manspreading on the subway, is on display throughout the clip.