Sabrina Carpenter‘s performance at the MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday night saw her kissing an alien, much to the confusion of Britney Spears. The singer took to Instagram yesterday to react to Carpenter’s dynamic medley of “Please, Please, Please,” “Taste,” and “Espresso,” which saw her paying homage to Spears several times.
In an Instagram story, Spears explained that she didn’t watch the VMAs, but did see clips of the awards show online. “Did you guys watch the VMAs? I didn’t watch the VMAs, but I did see stuff on my phone from YouTube of Sabrina Carpenter,” Spears said in the video. “Why is she kissing an alien on stage? I adore her. I love her to death. I didn’t understand that part. Why didn’t she kiss a girl? Like, that was weird.”
She continued, “But I also thought that the whole thing was kind of weird altogether… this Sabrina girl, she said my name on the red carpet and I thought that was kinda cool, because I forget I’m famous sometimes because I’m a mom, I’m kind of old, blah blah blah. But I thought it was kind of cool, this Sabrina girl, Carpenter. She said something, I was like ‘Thanks, that’s cool!’ She made me cool.”
Carpenter took the stage for an extra-terrestrial performance at the VMAs before winning Song of the Year for “Espresso.”
“I’ve literally never won one of these,” the singer said when she accepted the award. “This is really special. The first people I want to thank are the fans. If you clap after everything I say, they’re gonna call me off the stage, so one second. But I just want to say that you guys are the reason that I get to do what I love, but also the reason that we get to have so much fun and share music with each other. And I just feel so grateful to have the best, truly, the best fans in the world. I know it sounds cheesy, but I love you.”
Spears famously kissed Madonna and Christina Aguilera onstage at the VMAs in 2003. On Wednesday night, several artists paid tribute to Spears besides Carpenter, including host Megan Thee Stallion, who wore a re-creation of Spears’ 2001 “I’m a Slave 4 U” outfit complete with a yellow snake.