Taylor Swift did not win a thing at this year’s AMAs. Her fans have some theories why

The world’s biggest pop star won nothing at the American Music Awards this year – and her fans are furious.

Despite nominations in six categories, including artist of the year, album of the year and favourite touring artist, Taylor Swift failed to snatch any trophies.

Taylor Swift was a no-show at the AMAs. She also didn’t win anything. Queue the Swiftie investigation.Credit: Compiled by Marija Ercegovac

She also didn’t show up, despite rampant fan-fuelled rumours that she would announce the release of Reputation (Taylor’s Version) on-stage.

Swift’s absence is not altogether surprising. She has only attended two major events this year so far – the Grammys and the Super Bowl. She didn’t even attend events in which she won prizes, including the iHeartRadio Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards. So her absence wasn’t completely surprising.

However, Swifties aren’t buying it.

Taylor Swift at the AMAs in 2018.Credit: AP

The AMAs is unofficially known as Swift’s award show darling. She holds the record for the most AMAs won in history, having raked in 40 trophies. Given it’s a fan-voted award show, Swift’s success is largely thanks to her incredibly loyal following. Swifties span the globe, are willing to spend thousands of dollars on her shows and merchandise, and even get involved in who she dates. Because of them, Swift was Spotify’s Global Top Artist last year, drawing over 82 million monthly listeners.

Yet, Swift won nothing. The public favoured Billie Eilish in multiple categories, including best album and artist. Arguably, the most surprising loss, however, was in the favourite touring artist category. Eilish prevailed once again for her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour, even though Swift’s Eras tour grossed over $US1 ($A1.5) billion in just eight months – making it the highest-grossing tour of all time – and broke attendance records.

Swifties were certain the singer had been leaving Easter eggs in the lead-up to the show, such as by reorganising her website menu to spell out “AMAs” (“Apparel, Music, Accessories, Sale”) and reducing certain sale items by 26 per cent (the date of the awards). So, her fans quickly began speculating over why she didn’t show up, and why she was “snubbed”.

Trump snub?

The most out-there theory indirectly involves US President (and Swift critic) Donald Trump.

Swift endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris during the 2024 election, triggering Trump to respond by declaring “I hate Taylor Swift” on social media in September. He also credited the boos Swift received at this year’s Super Bowl to his MAGA supporters.

The AMAs is produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Corporation in a subsidiary joint venture between Penske Media and Eldridge. Penske Media Corporation is run by Jay Penske. Jay Penske’s father, the owner of Penske Corporation, donated over $1 million to the Republican candidates via Penske Corp in 2024.

While Penske Corp is a completely separate entity to the Penske Media Corporation, fans inaccurately speculated there was a link between Jay Penske and his father’s political affiliations which may have had a bearing on the awards.

But the AMAs are a fan-voted awards show, with the vote supervised by a third-party company with no involvement by the awards producers.

Other fans also claimed, without offering any evidence, the AMAs’ producers muted the audience’s cheers when her name was called during category announcements. The producers of the awards vehemently deny these claims.

‘Tayvis’ red carpet debut?

It is also possible Swift is biding time before making her red carpet debut with partner Travis Kelce. She and her NFL boyfriend are both nominated at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards – Swift for favourite song with I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, and Kelce for favourite male sports star.

They are yet to attend a red carpet together, despite having been dating since 2023, so the June event could be ideal.

Swifties are also wondering whether it could be because of a recent (or forthcoming) engagement, they may not wish to share alongside the Reputation (Taylor’s Version) reveal. But they’ve been wrong before...

We’re just not that into you?

What goes up must come down.

The AMAs is a fan-voted award show, so the most probable reason for her loss is that Swift peaked during her now-completed Eras tour, potentially reaching a saturation point. The mixed critical reception of her most recent album arguably supports this. Same goes for search traffic – search interest in “Taylor Swift” is 48 per cent down year-on-year worldwide, according to Google Trends.

Maintaining such momentum while not on tour is presumably impossible, and the longer you’re in the spotlight, the more exposed you become to critics. Perhaps this simply demonstrates a natural shift in public sentiment. Or perhaps it’s just Swift taking a well-earned break.

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