Why Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco Skipped Tonight’s MTV VMAs

THE RUNDOWN

• Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco skipped the 2025 MTV VMAs.

• The engaged couple has shared nominations for their joint album, I Said I Love You First.

• TMZ reported this weekend that the pair is preparing to get married later this month.

Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco released their first joint album, I Said I Love You First, this past spring. But despite having nominations for it, Blanco and Gomez chose to skip the MTV VMAs tonight. Gomez has been doing press for Only Murders in the Building, and TMZ reported this week that the couple will be getting married later this month, so they are in the midst of wedding prep, too.

It’s worth noting Blanco famously has a fear of flying, so he would’ve had to drive across the country to make it to the New York ceremony.

Blanco and Gomez have two nominations this evening: Best Collaboration (“Sunset Blvd”) and Video for Good (“Younger and Hotter Than Me”).

Gomez recently spoke on Therapuss with Jake Shane about first meeting Blanco 17 years ago, noting she believes their romance began at the right time in summer 2023.

“We met when I was 16 because we were going to possibly work together, but I didn’t start releasing music ’til 17, 18…so we saw each other around. It was nice,” she said.

She characterized him as “just an acquaintance, if that makes sense. And to be honest, I wasn’t like besties [with him]. I just thought he was nice. Then we did a few songs together, [including] ‘Same Old Love,’ which was awesome. We had a great time. [There was] nothing really there. And then ‘I Can’t Get Enough,’ which was with Tiny and J Balvin. Didn’t get it there either. I just thought he was funny. I was just like, ‘This guy is so funny.’ But I didn’t think anything of it.”

She admitted she wasn’t ready for what their love story would become back then, either. “You know when you realize you’re not in that place anymore?” she asked. “You need to be where you are. It’s all about timing to meet that person. Because even if I did think, ‘Oh, let’s take this a step further,’ then it wouldn’t have worked. It just simply you have to be there mentally in order to move forward in something healthily.”

When they started working together on “Single Soon,” the timing was finally right, even if the track wasn’t their favorite collaboration.

“It was really fun,” Gomez said. “Just because I can say this because I’m marrying him, [it] just really wasn’t what I thought I wanted. So he came in—and he agrees on a lot of levels—but he just came in, and I was like, ‘Oh, Benny, hi, Benny.’

“And we spoke for two hours, and I asked him to hook me up with anybody that he knew that was cute. And he was like, ‘Oh, we do these things like dinner nights, you should come.’ And then next thing you know, we’re dating. But he was terrified in the beginning because he’s like, ‘It’s work and it’s company, and people are going to get mad. And I’m like, ‘I don’t give a shit, kiss me.’”

The couple announced their engagement in December 2024.

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