During her 2025 MTV VMAs debut, Sabrina Carpenter paid tribute to Britney Spears and shocked fans by making out with an alien on stage

The “Princess of Pop” was honoured by Sabrina Carpenter at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.

Carpenter, 26, gave a riveting mixture of her singles from her most recent album, Espresso. On Wednesday, September 11, she performed “Please Please Please,” “Espresso,” and “Taste,” the latter of which she played live for the first time at the awards ceremony.

Beginning the show, Carpenter dropped from the ceiling, sitting on a seat fashioned like a diamond, wearing a glittery white bodysuit, and sang “Please Please Please” as a huge astronaut held her in their palm. The spoken interlude from Madonna’s iconic song “Oops!…I Did It Again” played in the background prior to her coming on stage and turning to perform “Taste.”

The vocalist of “Nonsense” premiered the music video for “Taste” on August 23, the same day that her sixth studio album Espresso was made available.

The music video, which was directed by Dave Meyers, shows Carpenter and Jenna Ortega continually trying to kill each other and even sharing a kiss.

There are multiple campy scary references in the image. The pair has bouncy haircuts and vampy black outfits reminiscent of Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep in the 1992 film Death Becomes Her. The “Feather” artist is impaled by a fence akin to a scene from the 2000 film Ginger Snaps, while the Wednesday star, 21, is dressed as a nurse, evoking memories of Daryl Hannah’s character in Kill Bill. Additionally, a sequence in the shower refers to the iconic Psycho from 1960.

Carpenter was revealed as one of the performers at the VMAs, along with Rauw Alejandro, GloRilla, Chappell Roan, and Camila Cabello, last month.

Except for Cabello, every performer on the original lineup is making their main stage debut at the festival. For her third appearance at the VMAs, Cabello will sing a song from her most recent studio album, C, XOXO. Following her historic attendance at Governor’s Ball and Lollapalooza earlier this summer, Roan will make her first-ever award show stage debut at the VMAs.

Anitta, Karol G, LL Cool J, Halsey, Lenny Kravitz, Lisa, Benson Boone, and Shawn Mendes were among the performers confirmed to be performing at the VMAs last week.

Presenters at the event include Big Sean, Busta Rhymes, Carson Daly, Cyndi Lauper, Addison Rae from TikTok, Amelia Dimoldenberg, host of Chicken Shop Date, and model Alessandra Ambrosio.

In addition, Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey, Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles, Naomi Scott, Paris Hilton, Suki Waterhouse, Thalía, Tinashe, and DANNA, together with DJ Khaled, Lil Nas X, Miranda Lambert, Fat Joe, Flavor Flav, and French Montana, will be there.

The 2025 MTV VMAs will be broadcast live from the UBS Arena in New York on September 11 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.