Taylor Swift Says It's Taken 'Forever' to Get Post Malone to Stop Calling Her 'Ma'am' as They Accept 2024 VMA

The "Fortnight" singer praised Malone for his collaboration — and "unfailingly polite" demeanor

Taylor Swift has already taken home a 2024 MTV Video Music Award — with her very polite duet partner.

At the start of the 2024 MTV VMAs at New York's UBS Arena, Swift, 34, and Post Malone (né Austin Richard Post) took home the award for best collaboration for their work on the The Tortured Poets Department hit single, "Fortnight."

As the pair accepted the night's first award, Swift thanked the 10-time Grammy nominee for his contributions to the duet. "It's so amazing to have the opportunity to thank and honor the people who worked so hard with me on this video," she said.

"There is a very clear reason why Post Malone is everyone in music's favorite person to collaborate with," she continued. "It is because you are so ridiculously talented. You are so versatile, and you're the most down-to-earth person."

"Honestly, so unfailingly polite. It has taken me forever to get him to stop calling me ma'am," she joked in her portion of the speech about the 29-year-old musician's formality. "So, do you want to say something, Austin?"

The "Circle" singer quipped back, "Yes ma'am."

Related: The 2024 MTV VMAs: Live Updates from the Red Carpet and Show Where Taylor Swift Is Poised to Make History

"Taylor is, um," said the rapper, who was then left speechless before adding: "An absolute loss for words. One of the most kind and talented people I've ever had the honor of knowing."

"Just the amount of work and care and love that she puts into everything she does," he said before recalling a moment from the "Fortnight" music video. "I watched her tied up to the like operating table thing in the music video, and she was just directing the music video from there, and it was pretty badass."

Swift's shoutout to the rapper's polite demeanor comes months after she shared a peek at the two musicians' dynamic on the set of the music video. In a behind-the-scenes clip shared in June, the duo breaks down the scene’s concept, and the "Sunflower" musician repeatedly tells his collaborator, “Yes, ma’am,” as he listens to her ideas.

Check out all of PEOPLE's full MTV VMAs coverage here.

Both Swift and Malone were the two leading artists with the most nominations, with Swift leading the pack with 10 nominations, and Malone coming in right behind with nine nominations.

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The 2024 MTV VMAs air on Sept. 11 at 8 p.m. ET/ PT live from the UBS Arena in New York.

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