Some Taylor Swift fans have theories about why she didn’t attend the American Music Awards (AMAs) on Monday despite being nominated for six awards.

One anonymous X post speculated that the pop star might have skipped due to the rise of conservatism in general, with many followers agreeing that this could be the reason she was a no-show.

“Billboard Magazine is owned by Penske Media Corp, by Jay Penske who also donated a million dollars to MAGA,” the post said. “…makes sense why the show was the way it was tonight and why taylor swift was snubbed and likely why she didn’t show up.”

Swift currently holds the record for most AMA wins in history with 40. Winners of the AMAs are determined by fans voting on social media and through an online platform. 

The included screenshots on the post show that Penske Media Corp donated $1.1 million to the Make America Great Again organization. There is also a photo of Trump’s Truth Social post from September 2024 that said, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT.”

Billboard Magazine is owned by Penske Media Corp, by Jay Penske who also donated a million dollars to MAGA.

makes sense why the show was the way it was tonight and why taylor swift was snubbed and likely why she didn’t show up pic.twitter.com/b2DR2DRx3m

— 🅚🅔🅛 ⸆⸉ | #1 NYD stan (@repgirlypop) May 27, 2025

“You’ll never guess who the producer of the show was… that’s right, dick clark productions.. a subsidiary of PMC – the MAGA supporting owner of Billboard Music,” a follow-up post added.

Many commenters agreed with this assertion. One person wrote, “1000% this is such a clear shift towards conservatism in the music industry (notice how every performer except renee rapp was a republican).”

“It was uncomfortable,” a second commenter agreed. “It was so subtle but those of us marginalized knew exactly what was happening.”

Jay Penske maintains a politically neutral public persona. His father, racing team owner and former professional driver Roger Penske, formally endorsed President Trump in 2020 after her was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019 . 

Performers at the AMAs included Benson Boone, Gloria Estefan, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Reneé Rapp, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Rod Stewart, Alex Warren, and Lainey Wilson. Lopez’s performance raised some eyebrows as she proceeded to kiss both a male and a female dancer on stage, as The Daily Wire previously reported.

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Also, Trump came down on Swift earlier this month after previously voicing his issues with her. “Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer ‘HOT?’” the president shared with his followers on May 16.

While some fans believe Swift skipped the ceremony due to conservatives and Trump drama, another theory says the singer did not attend because of the ongoing legal drama between her friend, Blake Lively, and Justin Baldoni.

Swift was subpoenaed in one of the lawsuits, but the court order was later withdrawn. An unnamed source told The Daily Mail that the legal issues were the real reason Swift skipped the AMAs.

“She avoided the AMAs because she didn’t want to deal with 1000s of questions about the Blake Lively saga,” a source told the outlet.

“It is all anyone wants to talk about, and Taylor is really tired of it,” the source added.