Why did Lady Gaga abruptly leave 2025 MTV Video Music Awards? Here’s what went wrong

At the 2025 MTV VMAs, Lady Gaga abruptly left the stage shortly after taking home one of the biggest awards of the evening. Lady Gaga accepts the award for art of the year during the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. (Photo Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)(Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) The 39-year-old singer told the applauding audience as she stepped onto the stage to claim the Art of the Year award that she had to depart immediately before the ceremony ended. Gaga, who was named the first Moon Person of the evening, clarified that she was traveling to her sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which is 20 miles from the VMAs venue at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. “I wish I could stay and watch all these amazing performances but I have to go back to Madison Square Garden,” she told the audience, as per Daily Mail. “Love you. Thank you.” She concluded her moving statement dedicating the award to her fiancé, Michael Polansky. During her Saturday night performance at MSG, Gaga pre-recorded her performance for the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards. She is now on tour to promote her album Mayhem, traveling to several American and Canadian locations before going across the pond to perform in the UK and Europe. Also Read: Did Howard Stern really walk away from SiriusXM after two decades? Here’s the truth All about Lady Gaga’s awardShe received 12 nominations for the most dinctions of the evening, including the top prize of Video Of The Year for her duet with Bruno Mars, “Dying With A Smile.” At Sunday night’s presentation, Gaga won four MTV VMA Awards: Best Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Collaboration for Die With A Smile with Bruno Mars, and Art of the Year. Gaga has already won eighteen VMA awards. Sje has also been at the top of MTV’s l of VMA nominees for the third consecutive year. She tied for first place with nine nominations overall in 2020 after previously topping the l with 13 nominations in 2010. Bruno Mars, the Bad Romance hitmaker’s collaborator, has eleven nominations, followed Kendrick Lamar, who has ten, for third place.