Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Award Shows, Music, T-Swift
Ilana Frost
Despite being in her ~life of a showgirl~ era, Taylor Swift does not appear to be at the VMAs this year. And her absence is super noticeable ’cause girlie’s usually front and center, standing up, singing her heart, and busting out some dance moves during every performance. (Usually in a depressing fit, but still.) This actually marks the first time Taylor’s missed the award show since 2021.
Although the pop icon hasn’t released a new album *yet* this year, she’s still nominated for Artist of the Year, plus she’s known to make exciting announcements at these events. Honestly, I was hoping we’d get a Life of a Showgirl single and music video premiere. (But yeah, she already took care of the album announcement when she appeared on Travis and Jason Kelce’s football podcast a few weeks ago.) Not to mention, her bestie and collaborator, Sabrina Carpenter, is performing, and the “Anti-Hero” singer loves cheering on her pals. So, why isn’t Taylor Swift at the VMAs 2025? Here’s what we know.
Not to shock you, but it probably has to do with her now-fiancé, Travis Kelce, and his football season. As football fans and Swifties know, the Chiefs played the first game of the season on September 5 in Brazil. Assuming Taylor supported her man in Brazil, it would’ve been pretty tricky to make it back in time for the award show. And since she’s not performing or supporting a specific album, it just wouldn’t be worth that effort.
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At the 2024 VMAs, Taylor gave Travis a sweet shoutout while accepting the Moon Person for Video of the Year for her “Fortnight” collab with Post Malone. “It actually was the most fun video to make,” she reflected during her speech. “Something that I’ll always remember is when I finished a take and I’d say ‘cut,’ and we’d be done with that take, I would always hear someone cheering from across the studio where we were shooting it.”
She added, “That one person was my boyfriend Travis.”
At the moment, Taylor and Beyoncé are tied for the most decorated artist of all time with 30 awards each, so we’ll see if one of them breaks the tie by winning Artist of the Year.
Surely, Taylor will be back next year to collect a bunch of Life of a Showgirl-related awards. Hey, maybe she’ll even perform. (Personally, I have a good feeling about the upcoming album, considering she collaborated with Swedish gods Max Martin and Shellback.)