At last year’s MTV Video Music Awards, Taylor Swift secured her place as arguably the most dominant and beloved performer in the music world.
Taylor took home 4 Moon Men; she introduced the video for “Wildest Dreams” during the pre-show, and the red carpet was one of the most visible demonstrations of the size and power of Taylor’s squad to date.
Of course, a year later, what most viewers remember is that it was also the night that Taylor buried the hatchet with Kanye West, years after the rapper famously interrupted her acceptance speech.
It was a triumphant night for Taylor and her carefully-curated chick clique – but oh, what a difference 12 months makes.
These days Taylor’s squad problems are well-documented.
She’s had highly-publicized beefs with other A-listers like Katy Perry and Calvin Harris, and more often than not, it’s Taylor who’s come off looking like the mean girl in the situation.
Her most embarrassing defeats, however, have come at the hands of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, the couple she publicly praised in front of an audience of millions in 2015.
After Taylor claimed to be shocked by the lyrics to Kanye West’s “Famous”, Kim called Swift out as a liar and posted video that appeared to show the singer on the phone with West, approving the offending line.
The official reason that Taylor won’t be attending this year’s ceremony is that she wasn’t nominated for any VMAs (in something of a shocking snub).
But many believe that there’s more to the singer’s decision to stay home (especially since the awards take place in Manhattan, where she spends most of her time anyway).
The VMAs have always been Kanye’s playground, and this year, the rapper will probably be more outrageous than ever.
The network recently announced that Kanye will basically have free-reign over the stage on VMA night, which is like holding a birthday party for toddlers and telling one of them that he can decide who’s allowed in the bounce house.
Couple that with the fact that Taylor can no longer rely on the support of her loyal squad, and it’s not hard to see why Swift decided to sit this one out.
We’re sure she’s already plotting her triumphant 2017 return.
