Taylor Swift performs ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ live for the first time in front of star-studded crowd at Academy Museum Gala

See more of our coverage in your search results. Taylor Swift performed some of her biggest hits during her performance at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ sixth annual Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles Saturday evening. The “Fortnight” singer took the stage in a strapless sparkling gown to give her first live performance of her chart-topping single “The Fate of Ophelia,” per videos shared online. Swift, 36, also performed “Love Story,” “Blank Space” and her original song from “Toy Story 5,” titled “I Knew It, I Knew You.” Taylor Swift performed her biggest hits at the Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles on Saturday. Getty Images for Academy Museum Foundation The “Fortnight” songstress stunned in a strapless sparkling gown. Getty Images for Academy Museum Foundation The “Bad Blood” songstress channeled Cinderella when she arrived at the “Met Gala of the West” on Saturday. Swift stunned in a strapless pale blue Dior dress to walk the red carpet. The floor-length gown was crafted from pleated silk and embellished with a beaded bow. The well-heeled crowd included this year’s honorees filmmaker and composer John Carpenter, Oscar nominee Colman Domingo and Oscar winner Charlize Theron. Co-chairs of the gala, Tom Ford, Robert Rodriguez, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw were also in attendance. She performed “The Fate of Ophelia” live for the first time. Getty Images for Academy Museum Foundation Swift channeled Cinderella at the event. Getty Images The “I Knew It, I Knew You” singer wore a strapless pale Dior gown on the red carpet. David Fisher/Shutterstock A-listers including Jessica Alba, Adrien Brody and Georgina Chapman, Kirsten Dunst, Regina Hall, Kate Hudson, Jessica Lange, Greta Lee, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Rami Malek, Demi Moore, Olivia Munn, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Seth Rogen and Teyana Taylor were among the 2026 Academy Museum Gala host committee. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announced in an Oct. 8 press release that Swift would take the stage at the gala. In the press release, Academy Museum Director and President Amy Homma described Swift as “an extraordinary talent whose work resonates around the world.” The pop superstar’s last major public appearance was at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards in September, where she made history by surpassing Beyoncé to become the most-awarded artist in the show’s history. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announced in an Oct. 8 press release that Swift (pictured above at the 2022 Nashville Songwriter Awards) would take the stage at the gala, with Academy Museum Director and President Amy Homma describing her as “an extraordinary talent whose work resonates around the world.” Getty Images Swift’s last major public appearance was at the 2026 MTV VMAs in September, where she made history by becoming the most-awarded artist in the show’s history. (Swift is seen above on the red carpet ahead of the ceremony.) FilmMagic The record-breaking moment came when Swift won the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors, presented by Dakota Johnson at the ceremony in Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater. “First of all, I want to say thank you to MTV for giving this platform to music videos so long ago,” Swift said in her acceptance speech. “I got to start making music videos and being a part of music videos 20 years ago, and since then, I’ve gotten to be a part of making 60 music videos, roughly 60 of them — 18 of those I wrote and directed. And I really love writing and directing music videos. “I gotta tell you, though, the main reason why I love writing and directing music videos so much is because you, the fans, make it so much fun. You make it so rewarding because you actually care about what we’re making,” she continued. Swift won the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors, presented by her bestie Dakota Johnson at the ceremony in Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater. (Swift and Johnson are pictured above together onstage at the ceremony.) Getty Images “First of all, I want to say thank you to MTV for giving this platform to music videos so long ago,” Swift began in her acceptance speech for the inaugural award. (Swift is seen above accepting the Video of the Year award for “The Fate of Ophelia.”) Getty Images “So I want to say thank you to everyone who ever worked on a music video that I got to be a part of. I learned something from every single person that I ever worked alongside.” At the conclusion of her speech, Swift debuted the music video for her new song, “Patient Zero,” for which she enlisted Johnson and fellow A-lister Colin Farrell. Swift surprised fans last month with the announcement of the new track, revealing that it would join “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon” as the four additional songs featured on the “encore” version of her 2025 album, “The Life of a Showgirl.” At the conclusion of her speech, Swift (pictured above on the red carpet for the 2026 MTV VMAs) debuted the music video for her new song, “Patient Zero,” for which she enlisted Johnson and fellow A-lister Colin Farrell. WireImage Swift (seen above arriving at the 2026 MTV VMAs) surprised fans last month with the announcement of “Patient Zero,” revealing that it would be one of four additional songs on “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore.” Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency / BACKGRID Get the latest news on Taylor Swift every week. Sign up for Page Swift Thank for signing up! Ahead of her star-studded July 3 wedding to Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden, Swift shocked the audience at her husband’s Tight Ends & Friends concert in June with a performance of her 2008 hit “Love Story.” Swift joined country singer Lainey Wilson onstage toward the end of her set, with Wilson telling the crowd, “I don’t think y’all are ready for what’s about to happen,” before Swift took the stage. Wilson, 34, said it has been “so cool” to see what Swift has accomplished since she first saw the “really, really special” singer perform at age 16. In June, Swift shocked the audience at her husband Travis Kelce’s Tight Ends & Friends concert with a performance of her 2008 hit “Love Story” alongside country singer Lainey Wilson (pictured above performing onstage with Swift.) Riley Cardoza Earlier that month, Swift dazzled onstage at the Los Angeles premiere of “Toy Story 5,” where she performed her original song for the film’s soundtrack, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” and joined Randy Newman for a rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.” (Swift and Newman are seen above performing together onstage.) Pixar/Facebook “She is just as kind as she is talented. Y’all, welcome to the stage, my friend, Taylor Swift,” Wilson said, prompting the audience to erupt into screams. Earlier in June, Swift dazzled onstage at the Los Angeles premiere of “Toy Story 5” at the Dolby Theatre in a sunshine-yellow, floral-embellished gown. She performed her original song for the film’s soundtrack, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” live for the first time before joining Randy Newman for a rendition of his iconic “Toy Story” song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.” Community Guidelines Welcome to the Page Six Community! 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