Taylor Swift's AMAs No-Show Explained

The question why Taylor Swift was a no-show at Sunday’s AMAs in Los Angeles – she was nominated for six awards and won three – might be answered. She was in New Zealand shooting a video for her track “Out of the Woods.”

Photo: Xcel Energy Center

Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minn.

A tweet from US comedian Maggie Shipstead sent from LAX Saturday evening read, “It’s like the old saying goes: when you see a Taylor Swift at the airport, you will have a pleasant flight to New Zealand.”

That sent local media on what New Zealand website stuff.co.nz described as a “wild goose chase, all over South Auckland”.

The news was also confirmed by New Zealand actor Ido Drent of the “Shortland Street” series, who was on New Zealand direct LA to Auckland flight NZ3 with Swift. He told TVNZ he “had a good chat to her on the plane outside the lavatory. She’s definitely here.”

Both her record label Universal Music and her tour promoter Frontier Touring claimed no knowledge.

Edge Radio reported sightings of her filming in an “old church in Remuera” in Queenstown, and in a warehouse in the industrial area of East Tamaki. She was apparently also at Auckland’s picturesque Bethell’s Beach with Swift in the water wearing a blue dress.

She heads to Australia Nov. 26, where she journeys up the Blue Mountains in New South Wales on that day for more filming. Swift’s Australian tour kicks off Nov. 28 to 72,000 at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium, the biggest single-day show of her entire 1989 World Tour. The seven-date visit winds up Dec. 12 with a three-night stint at AAMI Park in Melbourne.