Taylor Swift is taking some time off, and we don’t blame her. After 21 months on tour with Eras and various scandals and media stories following her around, we’ve seen her public profile go very quiet. She seems to be prioritising time with family and her partner Travis Kelce, laying low in Florida while he trains for his next football season.

When it comes to the celebrity party circuit, the singer has taken a huge step back, as she attended just the Grammy Awards and the Super Bowl this year so far. And while fans expected her at the AMAs (the American Music Awards), she sadly did not turn up.

Many were hoping for further information, or maybe an Easter Egg, when it comes to the next Taylor’s Version album. When the Taylor’s Version of her Reputation track Look What You Made Me Do was featured on an episode of the newest and final season of The Handmaid’s Tale, the excitement, obsession and impatience for her to drop the full album definitely peaked.

Swifties voiced their disappointment at Swift not delivering on either an appearance or an album announcement at the AMAs, with one even posting: ‘TAYLOR SWIFT HAS ARRIVED AT THE 2025 AMAS RED CARPET #AMAS,’ with the picture of a snake. Harsh.

The AMAs seemed like a perfect launch pad for the new album, because of her history with the awards. She remains the artist with the most AMA wins, with 40 under her belt. Though she didn’t win any this year, she was nominated in six categories for her 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department. The release got AMA noms for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Favourite Touring Artist, Collaboration of the Year, Favourite Female Pop Artist and Favourite Pop Album. Swift has also attended the event 10 times now, so it’s no surprise that fans really expected her to be there this year.

,Plus, on top of Swift’s history with the awards, fans had analysed the changes in the layout of the singer’s online store – the new categories are apparel, music, accessories and sale, the beginning of each word spelling out AMAs. Others insisted that various clues added up to the number 26, which was the date of the award ceremony, leading them to believe that a big appearance and potential Reputation (Taylor’s Version) announcement was going to happen at the ceremony. But alas.

Another fan theory is that both Swift and Kelce are holding off on public appearances due to the fact they’re engaged and want to announce their news at an appropriate time and event. Wouldn’t that be something?

Fans also had some serious opinions about the moment that Taylor’s nomination for Artist of the Year was announced during the ceremony, the audio for the fans applause was muted. Fans who were there or watching different stream coverage suggested that the crowd applause was really loud, but that the audio was cut.

One posted: ‘Muting the audience when taylor was listed is mad shady of amas like what did she do to you??? like she’s literally the most awarded artist at your show in history and has only ever shown love…’

Another wrote: ‘NOT THE AMAs MUTING THE CROWD WHEN THEY MENTIONED TAYLOR’S NAME??? LITERALLY WHAT HAS SHE DONE TO YOU IF YOU’RE BEING TALKED ABOUT ITS BECAUSE SWIFTIES WERE EXPECTING TAYLOR TO SHOW UP/A VIDEO FROM HER BE FOR REAL.’

Others asked presenter Jennifer Lopez who danced to a range of nominees’ songs didn’t feature any of Swift’s. Due to her huge history with the AMAs, could this mean something? A snub? Or at least part of the reason why the singer chose to stay home?

One fan posted about these observations, and her continued loyalty to Swift, on Instagram: ‘It feels odd that they included everyone else’s songs in the mashup but left out Taylor’s. they muted the crowd when her name was announced, didn’t mention her other nominations, and didn’t say her name once. just strange, especially for an album that sold over 2 million copies in two weeks. anywho, she’ll always be my artist of the year.’

Whatever the reasoning for her AMAs absence, it looks like Swift isn’t bothered about any drama, awards glory or lack thereof either way. It could just be that her priorities have shifted to her personal life as she takes downtime from a mammoth tour. After all, she and Kelce have been seen out for intimate dinners in Florida, so their relationship seems to be going strong and thriving away from the public eye and various award show appearances.

Fans are hoping Swift and Kelce will make their official red carpet debut on 21 June for Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards in June. But with how blissful their downtime looks, we wouldn’t hold our breath.