Blake Shelton is speaking out after fans criticized the American Music Awards for airing pre-taped performances without telling the live audience that some artists wouldn’t appear in person.

On Monday, May 26, the country star performed his latest song, “Stay Country or Die Tryin’,” during the elite award show and later returned to the stage to introduce his wife, Gwen Stefani. Her delivery included a medley of her hits like “The Sweet Escape” and “Hollaback Girl” as well as her recent single, “Swallow My Tears.”

While they appeared to be live performances for viewers watching at home, fans attending the show at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas quickly learned that their performances were actually pre-taped — as were several other appearances throughout the night.

In several TikTok videos posted after the event, fans captured the moment the performance was shown on a large screen. The comment sections lit up with angry users who felt “lied” to by the award show.

“Imagine paying for a ticket to watch a TV 🤣😅”

“When Blake Shelton is ‘performing’ at the AMA Awards but there is no Shelton in sight,” another attendee wrote.

“@amas why did you lie to us and say Blake was performing “live?” He wasn’t there. It was prerecorded.”

“Super annoying especially with the price I paid for my level 300 ticket.”

Shelton Sets The Record Straight

After seeing the surplus of negative comments online, Blake Shelton took to X (formerly Twitter), to explain that the situation regarding their performances was out of their control.

He wrote, “Just now seeing these stories about Gwen and I pretaping our performances for the AMA’s. We came and performed when the show asked us to.. Really nothing else to say. 🤷‍♂️”

This time, many fans had his back, noting how both performances were “great” regardless of whether they were live or not.

“Don’t worry bout em, haters gonna hate, yall gorgeous 🖤🎶,” said another.

“Great performance by both y’all no matter when it was recorded!”

“I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.♥️”

While some fans were clearly disappointed to miss out on seeing their favorite stars take the stage in person, it’s not unusual for award shows to mix in pre-taped performances and remote acceptance speeches.

A Lack of Star Power

Several of the night’s winners, including Billie Eilish, who snagged seven awards, also only appeared via video. The absence of other major names like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Sabrina Carpenter didn’t go unnoticed, leaving viewers questioning the star power of the night.

Hosted by Jennifer Lopez, the 2025 American Music Awards aired live on Memorial Day, May 26, at 8 p.m. ET. It was broadcast on CBS and available to stream on Paramount+.

Of the country music categories, Beyoncé snagged wins for Favorite Female Country Artist as well as Favorite Country Album (“Cowboy Carter”) while Dan + Shay won Favorite Country Duo or Group. Additionally, Post Malone took home Favorite Male Country Artist and Favorite Country Song (“I Had Some Help” feat. Morgan Wallen).