The VMAs were everything! Sabrina Carpenter’s soaking wet rendition of “Tears!” Ariana’s four (4!) outfit changes courtesy of the master Law Roach! Lady Gaga dropping in for precisely five minutes to pick up an award before jetting across town to perform in her own tour! But wait. I’mma let you finish… but where was our girl Taylor Swift?

Well, she wasn’t there. A sad night for Swifties. After all, it’s unlike Swift to miss the VMAs. Not only has she been over 15 times, she’s racked up quite the collection of Moon Men — 30 in total, a record she shares with Béyonce.

Although Swift was only up for one award this year, many fans were hoping that she would attend. Some were hoping that she would debut her brand new engagement ring and fiancé on the red carpet, too, following her engagement to Travis Kelce last month. After all, last year, Swift delighted fans by calling Kelce her “boyfriend” for the first time while accepting her award for Video of the Year.

“This video seems very sad when you watch it, but it was actually the most fun video to make,” she said, adding you could “always just hear someone cheering, like, ‘Whoo!’ from across the studio. That one person was my boyfriend, Travis.”

However, shortly before things kicked off yesterday, E! News reported that she was “opting to skip” the event.

While we don’t know for sure why Swift didn’t make it, some sleuths believe it might have something to do with Travis Kelce’s NFL schedule. He and the Kansas City Chiefs embarked on their NFL campaign on Friday in Brazil. Swift didn’t make it to this game either – according to TMZ, the trip was too short and none of the Chiefs’s wives or girlfriends accompanied them. Perhaps Swift simply wanted to spend a little time with Kelce between his football fixtures.

Plus, Swift has a lot on her plate in her professional life, too. The singer recently announced her twelfth studio album was on the way – The Life of a Showgirl is due to drop on October 3, so Swift is undoubtedly pretty busy planning the release.

This is the first time Swift has missed the event since 2021, when she was reportedly spending time with her then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn in Ireland.

Look, the life of a showgirl isn’t easy — Taylor Swift can only be in so many places at once. (And some fans might even be glad to hear she gave her jet the night off.)