Taylor Swift Skips an American Music Awards 2025 Red Carpet Outfit

 But a virtual acceptance speech outfit is still in play.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Any award show where Taylor Swift is nominated and rumored to attend comes with high expectations from her loyal Swifties. The 2025 American Music Awards ramped up the anticipation by several more notches. Fans weren't only hoping to see Swift walk the May 26 red carpet in honor of her six nominations, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Touring Artist. They speculated—by analyzing everything from merchandise in her online store to the date on the calendar—that Swift would finally announce a release date for her highly anticipated Reputation (Taylor's Version) re-recording.

By the end of the red carpet, viewers knew Swift had not jetted from her recent Florida date to the Fountainebleu Las Vegas. Despite rampant theorizing that Swift would attend the ceremony in-person, she didn't show up at the 2025 American Music Awards alongside its host, Jennifer Lopez, and guests like former Eras Tour opener Benson Boone.

At press time, there are still several hours left in the broadcast. Swift could potentially still win an award and drop some Easter eggs for her next project in a pre-recorded acceptance speech. (We'll update this post as the night progresses.)

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Attendance was always up in the air for Swift, who has only been present at two major events in 2025: the Grammy Awards (where she wore Vivienne Westwood) and the Super Bowl (where she wore Saint Laurent). Virtual acceptance speeches are becoming increasingly common for the singer, even when she had several trophies to accept. At the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards, for example, Swift beamed in to thank her fans for the evening's Tour of the Century win while wearing a Miu Miu plaid skirt and a crewneck sweater. Weeks earlier, at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards, Swift also declined to attend IRL and instead accepted her trophies from home in another cozy knit.