Why We Didn’t See Gracie Abrams and Paul Mescal at the 2025 MTV VMAs

THE RUNDOWN

• Gracie Abrams skipped the red carpet at the 2025 MTV VMAs in New York.
• She earned her first nomination at the VMAs last year but could not attend tonight because of her tour.
• Over the past year, she has headlined arenas worldwide, made her Glastonbury debut, and continued building on the success of The Secret of Us.

The past year has taken Gracie Abrams from sold-out arenas to Glastonbury’s stage—but sadly, not the MTV VMAs red carpet. She was absent from the 2025 ceremony tonight in Elmont, New York, even though her track “I Love You, I’m Sorry” was nominated for Song of the Year. (That award ultimately went to Rosé and Bruno Mars for “APT.”)

After concluding her Secrets of Us Tour in late August, it’s possible Abrams is just taking some time out of the spotlight after being on the road. Her boyfriend, actor Paul Mescal, was at the Toronto Film Festival this weekend for his new film, Hamnet. So they wouldn’t have been able to attend the VMAs together anyway. They’re also quite private about their relationship.

Abrams has been riding a wave of career milestones over the past year. Her second album The Secret of Us debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in June 2024 and spawned her first top-10 single, “That’s So True.”

Speaking about the track’s impact, she told Billboard, “‘That’s So True’ was the first song I’ve had that did what it did. Every time I sat down to try to write something, I felt a little sick. I was thinking, like, ‘How do I do something that will beat it?’”

Her momentum continued into 2025, with sold-out arena dates across North America and Europe, her debut at Glastonbury, and an appearance as musical guest on Saturday Night Live.

Abrams also spoke to Cosmopolitan earlier this year about being in a healthy relationship, saying, “What I love about a healthy relationship is that your life doesn’t radically change. You just fit into each other in a way that feels positively challenging and deeply supportive—it’s like a place to land.”