Taylor Swift fans were shocked to see the popstar walk away empty handed at the 2025 American Music Awards.
Swift, 35 — who did not attend the Monday, May 26, event, held at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas — was nominated in six categories. She received nods for Artist of the Year, Favorite Female Pop Artist, Favorite Touring Artist, Album of the Year and Favorite Pop Album for The Tortured Poets Department and Collaboration of the Year for “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone.
Although Swifties excitedly took to social media to encourage fan voting, Swift ultimately lost out in all her categories, with Artist of the Year, Favorite Female Pop Artist, Favorite Touring Artist, Album of the Year and Favorite Pop Album all going to Billie Eilish. Collaboration of the Year, meanwhile, went to Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars for their song “Die With A Smile.”
Prior to the 2025 ceremony, Swift was already the most-awarded artist in AMAs history, with a record 40 wins throughout her career. She most recently attended the awards show in November 2022, taking home six trophies that night. (The AMAs were not held in 2023 and 2024.)
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In the weeks leading up to this year’s event, fans speculated that Swift planned to make an announcement at the AMAs. One of the supposed Easter eggs was featured on her website, which listed four items on a prominent menu — Apparel, Music, Accessories and Sale — that spelled out AMAs with each of their first letters.
Swifties also noticed that 12 items on the online store were on sale for 26 percent off. Some reasoned that the 12 represented Swift’s upcoming 12th studio album and the 26 could hint at the AMAs’ May 26 date.
Taylor Nation seemed to get in on the fun too, promoting voting for Swift at the AMAs with a May 6 X post that read, “And our town, it looks so sMall from wAy up here. Screamed, ‘vote for the chairman’ at the night sky!” Again, the capitalized letters spelled out AMAs.
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Swift has kept relatively quiet as of late, with her last major awards show appearance happening at the 2025 Grammy Awards in February. The following week, she attended the 2025 Super Bowl to support boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs, though the NFL team ultimately lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.
In the months that followed, Swift stayed under the radar by not making any official public appearances. She notably skipped the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards in March, despite winning nine trophies, including Tour of the Century and Favorite Tour Style for The Eras Tour, Favorite On Screen for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version), Artist of the Year, Best Lyrics and Best Music Video for “Fortnight,” Favorite Surprise Guest for Kelce’s Eras Tour cameo in London, Favorite Tour Tradition for surprise songs and Pop Album of the Year for The Tortured Poets Department.
However, Swift did give an acceptance speech for Tour of the Century via a prerecorded message.
“I really can’t tell you how much this means to me because I accept this on behalf of all my tourmates,” she said, adding that the Eras Tour was “the most challenging” yet “most rewarding” thing she’s ever done.
