Family first. Taylor Swift was never locked in to her highly anticipated 2020 Grammys performance, and family responsibilities kept her away from the show entirely, Us Weekly can confirm.
“Taylor was at Sundance [Film Festival in Utah] a few days before the Grammys for the premiere of her documentary,” a source tells Us exclusively. “She was never confirmed to perform at the Grammys.”
The insider adds: “She was not going to be in attendance at the Grammys because she was spending time with her family and her mother, who has a brain tumor and whose cancer has returned.”
Swift, 30, opened up about her mom’s tumor in an interview with Variety published on January 21.
“Everyone loves their mom, everyone’s got an important mom. But for me, she’s really the guiding force. Almost every decision I make, I talk to her about it first. So obviously it was a really big deal to ever speak about her illness,” the Grammy winner explained. “The symptoms of what a person goes through when they have a brain tumor is nothing like what we’ve ever been through with her cancer before. So it’s just been a really hard time for us as a family.”
A second source tells Us Weekly exclusively that the “Lover” singer passed on the awards show after Grammys CEO Deborah Dugan was “fired for bringing up issues regarding unlawful gender discrimination, sexual harassment, unlawful retaliation and unequal pay.”
Dugan, who was both the CEO and president of the Grammys, sent a letter to the Recording Academy executive committee calling for “transparency and accountability” when asking them to release her from their arbitration clause, Rolling Stone reported on Wednesday, January 29.
The former president was put on administrative leave one week prior to the 62nd annual Grammy Awards after she filed a complaint about the Recording Academy being a “boys club” and claimed that she was sexually harassed by the academy’s outside counsel, Joe Kratz, who denied the claims.
As previously reported by Us, the Cats actress was nominated for three Grammys and was set to perform at the Sunday, January 26, ceremony, but instead decided to opt out.
Swift’s true reasons for skipping the show come after reports surfaced that she allegedly missed music’s biggest night because she wanted to make sure she’d win before appearing on stage.
Swift’s rep shut down those rumors in a statement to Us on Thursday, January 30, saying, “These statements made by anonymous, unidentified ‘sources’ are absolutely, 100 percent false and laughable. She just didn’t go to the Grammys. You guys need to calm down.”
The Recording Academy told Us on Thursday that Swift’s reason for missing the show had nothing to do with her team allegedly checking on whether she’d win or not.
“The Recording Academy is unaware of such a conversation ever taking place,” the academy said in a statement to Us. “It is also totally inconsistent with the interactions we’ve had with Taylor over the years.”
Ahead of the show, some fans were surprised to discover that the “Red” singer received so few nominations, but the singer herself didn’t seem phased.
“LOVER IS NOMINATED FOR SONG OF THE YEAR AT THE GRAMMYS!!!” the “Fearless” singer wrote on her Instagram Stories after the nominations were revealed on November 20. “Wrote this one alone in a quiet moment and seeing it honored in the Song of the Year category by my peers means so much, wow … 3 noms guys!!!”
