Taylor Swift will miss the 2025 VMAs ahead of The Life of a Showgirl’s release in October, E! News has learned, a departure from the last three years where she had a front-row seat.
The life of a showgirl sometimes means having to miss an award ceremony or two. As Taylor Swift prepares for the release of her new The Life of a Showgirl album in Oct. 3, she is opting to skip the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday, Sept. 7, E! News has learned.
Indeed, although Taylor is up for Artist of the Year alongside Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga, Morgan Wallen and The Weeknd, she will not be in attendance at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, to see who will take home the Moon Person trophy.
Don’t try and come for Taylor’s job, though. After all, she could still make history from afar. The “Karma” singer and Beyoncé are currently tied for the artists with the most VMAs ever awarded with 30, and if Taylor is to take the cake this year, she will officially become the most decorated artist since the ceremony’s inception in 1984.
Though Taylor won’t be able to make it to see the major possibility unfold in person, it comes during a busy time for her family. Travis Kelce, to whom Taylor got engaged last month, is set to kick off the NFL season for the Kansas City Chiefs tonight, Sept. 5, in a game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil.
The 2025 VMAs ceremony marks Taylor’s first time missing the event since 2021, and in the recent years she has had some very major moments at the ceremony. Last year, Taylor made the first public acknowledgement of Travis as her then-boyfriend while accepting her award for Video of the Year for “Fortnight” with Post Malone.
To uproarious applause, Taylor confirmed, “That one person was my boyfriend, Travis.” “This video seems very sad when you watch it, but it was actually the most fun video to make,” Taylor said while accepting her award last year, noting that between takes she could “always just hear someone cheering, like, ‘Whoo!’ from across the studio.”
To uproarious applause, Taylor confirmed, “That one person was my boyfriend, Travis.” And in 2022, Taylor began her tradition of grand album announcements by kicking off her Midnights era while accepting the same award for “All Too Well: The Short Film.”
As she told fans while accepting the award at the time ahead of the album, “I had sort of made up my mind that if you were going to be this generous, and give us this, I thought it might be a fun moment to tell you.”
