Why Taylor Swift Didn’t Perform at the Grammys

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Grammys showrunner Ken Ehrlich sheds light on rumors that Taylor Swift did not perform at the 2020 Grammys this past Sunday.

As a three-time nominee this year for Best Pop Vocal Album, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance; Swift was widely expected to perform – or at least appear – at the 2020 ceremony this past Sunday.

But following bombshell allegations against the academy of vote-rigging, under-representation of black and female artists, sexual misconduct and more by former Grammy CEO Deborah Dugan; the internet began circulating rumors that Swift had dropped out of the show to avoid the scandal altogether.

The rumor gained traction following a report from Variety just two days before the ceremony; claiming Swift had “bowed out of an unannounced Grammy performance.”

The outlet clarifies further down in the article that Swift was never officially confirmed; but that insiders reported “hopes were high” she would pull something together at the last minute.

Here’s what the showrunners said:

Ehrlich shares his side of the story with Rolling Stone. He tells the outlet that he and Swift had gone as far as talking about the set of her performance.

“She wanted to do something on a satellite stage with a guitar and a stool, simple. So I fit that into the show,” he said. “But a week before, she declined. They said, ‘she’s just decided she can’t do it.’”’

Despite such talks between him and the singer, Ehrlich denies that Swift ever “dropped out” of a secret performance:

“No. We never confirmed that Taylor Swift would perform at the Grammys,” he told RS. “I saw her in early January at Billboard’s Women in Music event and I said, ‘Do you want to perform?’ She said ‘I don’t think so, I don’t know. Let me think about it.’

“Probably 10 days before the show, one of her representatives called me and said ‘Taylor’s thought about it and she wants to be there for your last show’. I said ‘I’d love her to be there. Let’s figure it out.’

“I did put her in one rundown meeting that we had as a TBD. As it turned out, I don’t remember the date, but she declined. We had not confirmed; so the headlines that said ‘Taylor pulls out of Grammys’. But that’s not true.”

Variety proposed, but never confirmed, that Swift was going to perform her politically-charged feminist anthem The Man at Sunday’s ceremony.

If true, it definitely raises more questions about Swift‘s thought process in dropping out, especially considering Dugan‘s allegations against the academy.