Entertainment Awards Shows and Events Grammys Demi Lovato Hints There 'Was a Reason' She Skipped VMAs — But Denies It's Taylor Swift-Related It appears that Demi Lovato was unable to attend the annual award show due to shooting scenes for her upcoming role in Will & Grace By Claudia Harmata Published on August 27, 2019 01:10PM EDT The internet loves to speculate, so when Demi Lovato shared a cryptic message about why she failed to attend the 2019 MTV VMAs, it sent the rumor mill into overdrive On Monday night, the “Sorry Not Sorry” singer decided to skip the annual awards show, and shared a message with her fans about her absence via Instagram Stories. “I skipped the VMA’s for a REASON,” the 27-year-old posted in white text on a black background, later adding in another post, “Well that and I just hate award shows.” Some fans and followers were quick to assume that she may have been throwing shade at fellow pop-star, Taylor Swift, who took home three awards Monday night for best video, visual effects and video for good. Demi Lovato Defends Scooter Braun After Taylor Swift Accuses Him of Bullying: ‘He’s a Good Man’ Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty; Kevin Mazur/WireImage Lovato previously sided with her new manager, Scooter Braun, in his public feud with Swift earlier this summer over his purchase of Swift’s music catalog when he acquired Big Machine Label Group. Swift had accused Braun of “incessant, manipulative bullying” over the years. However, in a photo captured by The Pop Hub Twitter account, Lovato seemingly denies that her post on Monday night had any reference to Swift at all. The photo shows that Lovato had liked a post on Instagram that called-out people for thinking she was shading Swift. “Demi Lovato has been working on a new project for days,” it read. “We understand that you are not fans of Demi, as shown by your biased posts against her before, but tweeting stuff like this for attention is very low. This post had absolutely nothing [sic] do with Taylor Swift at all.” Taylor Swift Promotes the Equality Act (and Shades the White House) in VMAs Video of the Year Speech Ahead of the VMAs, the “Confident” singer teased the new project she was working on her Stories, encouraging people to guess what it could be. “Okay I can’t tell you guys what I’m doing today (you’ll find out super soon tho) but it’s making me SO HAPPY, I’m having SO MUCH FUN and I can’t stop laughing,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories. “Now go come up with your crazy ass theories as to what it might be.” RELATED VIDEO: Demi Lovato Says Her Upcoming Album Will ‘Finally’ Share Her ‘Side of the Story’ A few hours later she added, “Y’all… none of my news has to do with dogs, pickles OR MUGS… COME ONNNNNN.” Just moments after this post, she shared her message about there being a “REASON” for her VMAs absence, seemingly alluding that it was because of her new project. Demi Lovato Reveals Will & Grace Guest Role with Behind-the-Scenes Pic: ‘I Can’t Stop Laughing’ The surprise she appeared to be referring to was her new guest role on NBC’s Will & Grace, which she announced on Tuesday.