Taylor Swift misses VMAs for jury duty in Nashville court

The 26-year-old pop star was dismissed after she said she could not be impartial in a sexual assault case

Taylor Swift was notably absent from the MTV Video Music Awards, and speculation swirled as to the whereabouts of the pop star amid her ongoing feud with celebrity power couple Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

But Swift had to miss the pop music pageant because the Sunday night event conflicted with her fulfilling her civic duty at jury duty on Monday morning.

Swift showed up for jury duty to the surprise of other Nashville, Tennessee, residents vetted by the court for an aggravated rape and kidnapping case. The Davidson County district judge dismissed Swift, however, because she did not feel she could be impartial in the case due to ongoing civil case in Denver.

“She asked to be left off out of concern for an upcoming trial in Denver where she was – she used the term – ’groped’ by a fan at a meet-and-greet,” Davidson County district attorney spokesperson Ken Whitehouse told The Guardian.

Swift still offered to serve on a jury at another time.

After the hearing, Swift posed in selfies with other potential jurors – although many of the photos posted to Twitter are now deleted or private.

Nashville resident Michael Washington said he did not realise she was at the hearing, but was happy to meet her once it became clear.

“She’s a really nice girl,” he told The Tennessean. “She didn’t have a problem with taking pictures. If she didn’t want to be there, she didn’t act like it. She was just doing her civic duty. Very sweet.”

Prior to the event, a source close to Swift told The Independent that the artist was not nominated in any category this year and had no plans to attend.