One of the major and prestigious award ceremonies in the West, the 2026 MTV VMAs, took place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, U.S., on the 27th (local time). At the ceremony, BTS achieved a clean sweep of three awards, including the prestigious Song of the Year trophy with their title track “SWIM.” This marked the first time BTS had taken home the Song of the Year award at the MTV VMAs.

In the Song of the Year category, BTS’ “SWIM” emerged victorious after facing strong competition from leading nominees such as “Bring Your Love” by Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter, “Stateside” by PinkPantheress & Zara Larsson, and “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!” by RAYE.

BTS once again reaffirmed their status, sending fans around the world into a frenzy of celebration across social media: “BTS sweeps all 3 categories they were nominated in at the 2026 MTV VMAs!”, “Congratulations, BTS and thank you, ARMY, for making this possible!”, “BTS paved the way”, “Lesszgooo Armyy!! Congratulations kings!!”, and more.

Amid the celebrations, ARMYs also had a lively discussion surrounding another topic: More than 20 fandoms were reportedly joining forces against BTS to vote for another group, yet BTS still came out on top at the VMAs — and even swept all three categories. Many fans referred to the situation as “the same outcomes,” suggesting that groups of people have repeatedly attempted over the years to prevent BTS from winning or to limit the group’s influence, but have never succeeded.

According to posts shared by ARMYs, several internet users — who could loosely be described as BTS haters — posted statistics listing the fandoms they had gathered or believed “will vote CORTIS” in an effort to help the group surpαѕѕ BTS in the Best Group category, where “SWIM” by BTS and “REDRED” by CORTIS were initially nominated, as well as in the Best K-Pop category. The list circulating on social media was said to include more than 20 fandoms participating in the voting campaign.

The final result, as everyone has now seen, was quite different: BTS not only won Best Group, but also took home Best K-Pop and, most notably, Song of the Year, officially completing a three-award sweep despite not attending the ceremony in person. BTS also extended their impressive VMAs record with another Best Group win, following four consecutive victories in the category from 2019 onward.

The Song of the Year victory holds special significance for BTS. Back in 2021, the group became the first кσяєαn act to receive a nomination in the category with their нιт “Dynamite,” but fell short of taking home the trophy at the time. Five years later, BTS finally conquered the prestigious category with their comeback track “SWIM.”

For many fans, the result was seen as proof of BTS’ winning aura and the real strength of ARMY, once again shutting down what they viewed as an attempt by this “toxic fan alliance” to bring BTS down. ARMYs could not hide their satisfaction as they commented:

- All these fandoms teamed up to vote for Cortis at the VMAs to stop BTS and STILL ended up taking the L lol (What's hilarious is this isn't even the first time y'all tried this HAHAHA

- I genuinely think that those fandoms are just the same individuals lol like coers blink etc b1tch that's just all one person

- Just like dramas, they are so daft they dont know this just motivates us to vote harder. BTS will always get the last laugh

- Another chapter of “whole k-pop altogether can’t beat BTS”… sis they are on another level, don’t embarrαѕѕ yourself. Enjoy and stream your favs… that’s what army do

- Definitely a sad day in kpop when all these fandoms get together to help BTS lose and they STILL win

- Another proof that BTS only need ARMYs meanwhile their faves need another fandoms but still ℓσѕт.. pity!

- They really thought they could stop BTS by joining forces, only for BTS to win EVERYTHING they were nominated for. I’m crying

- Imagine spending all that time trying to block BTS, only for SWIM to take Song of the Year too. ARMY, WE WON!

- They gathered an entire alliance and BTS still said: three trophies, thank you very much

- The funniest part is that BTS didn’t even have to attend the ceremony to sweep all three categories. LEGENDS