Kristen Stewart Skips Final 'Twilight'-Hyping VMAs

Maybe we have our first sign that "Twilight" co-lead Kristen Stewart has been told to keep her distance after all from her "Breaking Dawn Part 2"-promoting cast-mates - especially estranged lover and co-star Robert Pattinson.

Stewart was originally supposed to appear alongside Pattinson and the embattled couple's co-star Taylor Lautner at Thursday night's MTV Video Music Awards to promote November's saga-concluding "Breaking Dawn Part 2." Instead, People and Access Hollywood confirm, Stewart was MIA from Los Angeles' Staples Center Thursday night and instead flew north to Canada Wednesday for a Toronto International Film Festival premiere screening of her turn in the Jack Kerouac adaptation "On The Road."

We previously reported that blow-back from Stewart's highly publicized affair with her married "Snow White and the Huntsman" director Rupert Sanders - and Pattinson's clear desire to look once more into her wandering eyes - have cast Summit Entertainment's plans for her to co-promote the picture alongside her cast-mates into question. There has been talk that Summit may swap out Stewart for Ashley Greene and others during the coming months' press events leading up to the premiere.

Initially, Stewart was indeed set to appear on tonight's red carpet by Pattinson's side, as befits the saga's iconic couple. Instead, it will be Lautner and Pattinson side-by-side who will debut a reported 90 seconds of never-before-seen footage from the assured fall blockbuster.

Throughout the run of the "Twilight" franchise, this has historically been Summit's biggest night, always premiering some new, exciting peek at the next installment. If Stewart, one of the biggest stars born of this franchise, missed this particular event, it lends support to more than one theory.

For one thing, it was said before that whether or not Stewart would be made welcome on the press tour depended entirely on making things right with Pattinson. For still another, it seems to suggest that the prospects of that happening appear very, very slim headed into this promotional home stretch.