Taylor Swift VMAs: Singer Isn’t Expected To Attend 2016 MTV Video Music Awards

The 2015 MTV Video Music Awards were essentially a night to celebrate Taylor Swift. The singer entered the night with 10 nominations, four more than the next closest person, Ed Sheeran, who had six. Taylor would end up winning four awards, including Video of the Year and Best Female Video. In addition, Swift’s video for “Wildest Dreams” debuted, she performed with Nicki Minaj during the opening of the show and presented Kanye West with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.

It was quite the night for Taylor and all of her girlfriends as they danced the night away, but don’t expect a repeat performance this year as Swift isn’t expected to attend the festivities, according to People.

“Taylor was never scheduled to attend the VMAs,” says the insider.

It shouldn’t be all that surprising as Taylor Swift wasn’t nominated for any awards this year as she hasn’t released an album since October 2014 when she put out 1989. That being said, Swift has attended seven of the last eight VMAs as she only missed during 2011. Not having Taylor show up at an awards show she typically dominates would leave a bit of a hole in the show.

Taylor Swift steps out solo then grabs dinner with Todrick Hall https://t.co/LfjfPMFntV via @people_style pic.twitter.com/KxPbucdqQh

— People Magazine (@people) August 25, 2016

It’s possible that Swift just doesn’t have any interest in going since she’s not a presenter or up for any awards, but there’s also speculation that she doesn’t want to run into ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris or deal with the drama surrounding Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

Harris, 39, is being recognized for his work on “How Deep Is Your Love” and “This Is What You Came For,” a song that was written by Taylor, according to Entertainment Tonight. The two have dragged their breakup through the media as Swift has moved on very publicly with 35-year-old English actor Tom Hiddleston.

West, on the other hand, is up for Video of the Year and Best Male Video for his video for the song “Famous.” Coincidentally, Swift came out publicly and denied that she gave Kanye the okay to use the lyric “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b**ch famous” despite West’s declaration that he had an hour-long conversation with Swift about using the lyric and she gave him the go-ahead.

“I called Taylor and had a hour long convo with her about the line and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings,” Kanye said.

Taylor Swift’s camp didn’t exactly see things the same way as they released a statement following the release of the song.

“Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single ‘Famous’ on her Twitter account. She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, “I made that bitch famous.'”

Taylor Swift Is Skipping the MTV VMAs: She ‘Was Never Scheduled to Attend’ Says Source https://t.co/RNBBDTK08P pic.twitter.com/AL9LLlEPXD

— Sarah Johnson (@sarahknows) August 25, 2016

Taylor then won Album of the Year at the Grammys in February and gave a very pointed speech despite not naming any names.

“As the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys twice, I want to say to all the young women out there—there are going to be people along the way who are going to try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame,” Swift said.

Well, things took an even bigger turn in this messy saga as Kim told GQ in her June interview that Taylor approved the lyric but then denied that she had and that the whole conversation had been recorded. Swift’s team, however, was doing everything in their power to keep it from being released.

“And then they sent an attorney’s letter like ‘Don’t you dare do anything with that footage,’ and asking us to destroy it.”

A little over a week after the GQ interview, Kanye released the video for “Famous,” and it featured a wax figure of a number of celebrities joining Kim and Kanye in bed, including Taylor Swift, who was laying right next to Kanye. Swift’s camp never responded to the video, but things would get even worse for Taylor about a month later.

Kim dropped a bombshell on Snapchat as she released the video footage of Swift and West discussing the lyric. Taylor certainly seemed to approve the use of the lyric, but she said in a Facebook post that she never agreed to being called “that b***h” and that Kanye was supposed to play the song for her before he released it, which she claims he never did.

So while it may be a little different not having Taylor Swift at the 2016 VMAs, one can certainly understand why she wouldn’t want to attend.

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]