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.

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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.

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.

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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”.