There’s a cause SZA was MIA at the VMAs. Even though she was just one of the most nominated artists of the evening, the hitmaker skipped the awards clearly show, and her supervisor exposed why afterward. Evidently, she was even in talks to complete at the 2023 ceremony, but all of that was referred to as off owing to MTV snoozing on the star in a person of the event’s greatest groups, her supervisor claimed.

Terrence “Punch” Henderson, who has managed SZA for yrs, advised The Hollywood Reporter that he finished talks of a probable VMAs efficiency immediately after he uncovered his superstar was not nominated in the Artist of the Calendar year group. “Obviously, she experienced a person of the best many years, if not the greatest yr, of any artist at this stage. I don’t see why she would not be nominated for Artist of the Year,” Henderson stated. “It just truly did not make any feeling to me. It is disrespectful.”

Regardless of earning nominations in eight groups, earning her the next most nominated artist of the night adhering to Taylor Swift’s 11 noms, SZA’s title was significantly absent in the Artist of the Year class. Regarded one particular of the show’s top rated prizes, the nominees for 2023 were comprised of Swift, Beyoncé, Doja Cat, Karol G, Nicki Minaj, and Shakira, with Swift having household the earn. Henderson discovered that MTV brushed him off when he attempted to question why SZA, who has had an inarguably landmark 12 months with her album SOS, was not up for the top rated prize.

“They couldn’t give a crystal clear reply as to why she wasn’t [nominated]. It was just, ‘Well, she’s nominated for all these other [awards],’” Henderson mentioned. “When we tried out to established up the 2nd contact, they did not want to discuss Artist of the Calendar year, which to me was really a slap in the encounter.”

SZA did conclusion up successful the Greatest R&B class for her solitary “Shirt,” but wasn’t existing to accept the award. Henderson confirmed the Artist of the Calendar year snub was the reason she skipped the display, which she was to begin with likely to execute at.

“Why would not she be nominated for Artist of the Calendar year? Even with the other artists that ended up nominated for Artist of the Yr, some of them were being even off-cycle. They didn’t have an album out,” Henderson said. “I necessarily mean, no disrespect to them or any one else everybody’s terrific and all of that, but nonetheless, you just can’t discredit what SOS has performed and is at this time accomplishing.”

Irrespective of the snub, SZA is continuing to dominate the charts with two new collaborations: an acoustic edition of “Snooze” that includes Justin Bieber and her moody duet with Drake, “Slime You Out.”