While this year’s VMAs show was filled with a star-studded guest list and even had surprise appearances from Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez, there were also some notable VMAs regulars who missed out on the festivities. Two of the celebs who skipped this year’s show were Justin and Hailey Bieber.

Over the years, Justin has attended the iconic show as he’s been nominated for 35 Moon Person awards (!!!). The last time he attended was in 2021, when he led with seven nominations including Artist of the Year. Of course, his wife Hailey cheered him on and introduced his performance at the time.

Kevin Mazur/MTV VMAs 2021//Getty Images

However, the Biebs wasn’t up for any awards at this year’s ceremony, nor was he presenting or performing. So there wasn’t really a point in showing up unless he and Hailey wanted an excuse to have a date night at the Prudential Center in Newark.

Hailey was also halfway across the world at a Tiffany and Co. event in Tokyo, so there’s a chance she wouldn’t have made it to the show on time.

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Plus the Biebers’ 5-year wedding anniversary is on September 13—the day after the VMAs. In a 2022 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Hailey reflected on what it’s like to be married to the “Ghost of You” singer.

“He’s still the person that I wanna be rushing back to,” she said. “I might fly somewhere and go do a job, but I can’t wait to come back and hang out. And I feel like that’s because of the effort that’s been put in on both sides. At the end of the day, like, he’s my best friend, but it still does take a lot of work to make it work. And then I know eventually, when kids come in the picture, that’s going to be a whole other season of navigating how to make that work.”