Ariana Grande was MIA at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards following the announcement she would be taking a step back from the public spotlight.
Grande, 33, missed the star-studded event held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 27, amid her break from the public amid backlash regarding her appearance.
Grande is nominated for eight awards this year, including Video of the Year, Best Pop Song, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Visual Effects and Song of the Summer for her hit “Hate That I Made You Love Me.” Grande is also up for Best Artist.
Grande’s apparent decision to skip the celebratory evening comes after she shared that she’s taking a “step back” from the public eye in August amid the “negativity” she’s faced in recent months regarding her body and weight.
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“Sometimes when a story comes out that’s not directly from me, things can get a little blown out of proportion,” she told her audience during her Eternal Sunshine Tour shortly after the announcement. “So I just wanted to speak to my fans directly tonight because I love you so much. The announcement that was made yesterday was not a reactive or impulsive thing.”
The singer continued, “It is something that I had decided to plan that I had quietly made a long time ago and it’s a decision that was made from a thoughtful and empowered place. And I want you to know many things can be true at the same time. I want to share this because I heard that my fans were worried that negativity was ruining things for me, but I just have to say that could not be more the f*** opposite.”
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Grande added that while boundaries needed “to be set,” she also wanted to relax and have a well-deserved “break.”
“Also, this can be and will continue to be the greatest experience of my professional and creative life,” she said. “No matter what noises exist out there, nothing will ever be able to distort my reality or be more real to me or elaborate to me than this love that we share. The rest of that s*** is not mine to carry, so I don’t carry it. I need to get out here and differentiate that from my truth for you all because I love you and this tour has been the most healing, beautiful, corrective, magnificent, special experience of my life.”
Grande also decided that she would no longer appear in the West End revival of Sunday in the Park With George, in which she was supposed to reunite with her Wicked costar Jonathan Bailey.
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