Why Lady Gaga Wasn’t at the 2026 MTV VMAs
2 min readTHE RUNDOWN
- Lady Gaga didn’t attend the 2026 MTV VMAs.
- The singer had two nominations tonight for her collaboration with Doechii, “Runway.”
- Gaga has been largely out of the spotlight since finishing her latest tour in April, though earlier this month it was reported that she and her fiancé have welcomed their first child.
Lady Gaga had two nominations at tonight’s MTV VMAs for her The Devil Wears Prada 2 track with Doechii, “Runway”: Best Dance and Best Art Direction. However, the singer, who has been largely out of the spotlight since finishing her Mayhem Ball Tour in April, didn’t attend tonight’s ceremony. She wasn’t seen on the Los Angeles event’s red carpet, either.
On September 11, a source told People that Gaga recently quietly welcomed her first child with fiancé Michael Polansky.
Days later, on September 14, a source spoke to the outlet about how Gaga has purposely taken time away from work to be with her little one. She “was ready to slow down after her tour,” the insider explained. “Right now, she’s enjoying being away from the public eye and having this special time with the baby. Michael is great with the baby. They’re figuring everything out together. She doesn’t want to miss any of it.”
Gaga was active on Instagram this Friday, though, posting a makeup tutorial:
In her February 2025 ELLE cover story, Gaga spoke about her life offstage and how she finds joy in “real conversations, real relationships, the authentic stories that we share with each other. I think there’s an element of ‘Fake it till you make it’ all the time in life…but I also believe in being real, with yourself and with people around you. And I think, sometimes, when we have those real conversations, we can feel less alone.”
Polansky also shed light on their private life, saying, “Our relationship is probably a lot like everyone else’s. We just have to figure out how to do some of it in public. That makes it even more important for us to have strong friendships and close family relationships. We find normalcy where we can.”
Gaga stressed the importance of maintaining an identity offstage when sharing her advice to younger artists in the interview. She said, “The whole you matters. Who you are at home is just as valuable as who you are when you’re onstage. And no matter what anyone says to you, you can value who you are outside of all of this. I’ve been in this business for years. Being a woman and a product at the same time was really exhausting.”