It could have been so wonderful. Taylor Swift could have accepted a trophy at the American Music Awards and then delivered the news many Swifties thought possible: The icon would let us know when the release of Reputation (Taylor’s Version) was going to occur.
Instead, the fan-vote-driven ceremony didn’t give us a chance to be happy about Swift. She was nominated for six awards, and likely assumed she would win at least one. Then, while giving her acceptance speech, she could have dropped the album information.
The issue is that she didn’t win an award. Meanwhile, Billie Eilish was winning all seven of her categories. Possibly, Swift had an idea she was not going to take home any awards because, as it turns out, it would not have mattered if she had, at least as it pertains to any Reputation (Taylor’s Version) announcement.
Taylor Swift made no big announcement at the American Music Awards and it’s our fault
Swift did not attend the event. This makes her reorganization of her merch website, so that the subheaders became the acronym AMAs (American Music Awards), even more confusing. She is the kind of artist who normally gives us Easter eggs and then delivers on the tease.
Or maybe we read far too much into the merch site revamp. While coincidentally odd, there is a good chance that we have gotten used to Taylor bringing some great news while giving us an idea of what it might be, and that we are now reading too much into everything.
Surely, however, Reputation (Taylor’s Version) will be coming out soon. A Taylor’s Version of “Look What You Made Me Do” was played nearly entirely in full on a recent episode of Handmaid’s Tale. We know that at least one of the songs from Reputation has been re-recorded, and maybe they all have. Fingers crossed.
Taylor Swift was not the only artist who got snubbed at the 2025 American Music Awards. Kendrick Lamar was nominated 10 times but won just one. Wicked: The Soundtrack, a heavy favorite, lost to the TV series, Arcane: League of Legends.