Sabrina Carpenter sparks debate with raunchy performance protesting for trans rights at the 2025 MTV VMAs

Sabrina Carpenter left fans divided with her raunchy performance at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, during which she advocated for trans rights.

Some have accused the 26-year-old singer of ‘fetishizing’ the trans community with her rendition of her latest single, ‘Tears,’ which features explicit lyrics.

Carpenter was joined on stage by drag queens — including Honey Balenciaga, Symone, Dashaun Wesley, Richie Shazam — for her performance at the UBS Arena in New York, which included a dance break in the rain.

Her background dancers also carried signs that read ‘In trans we trust’, ‘Dolls, dolls, dolls,’ ‘Support drag,’ ‘Protect trans rights’ and ‘If you hate, you’ll never get laid.’

Later in the show, Carpenter returned to the stage to accept the award for Best Album, thanking her ‘queens on stage.’

But not all fans were pleased, with one writing, ‘There’s kind of a weird fetishizing aspect to a lot of the “protect the dolls” stuff but I’m alright not caring about that until there’s a lot less “exterminate the dolls” stuff going on.’

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Sabrina Carpenter, 26, left fans divided with her raunchy performance at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, during which she advocated for trans rights

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Some have accused the singer of ‘fetishizing’ the trans community with her rendition of her latest single, ‘Tears,’ which features explicit lyrics

‘“Dolls dolls dolls” unsurprisingly, trans identifying males are the focus over the females, and in classic Sabrina Carpenter fashion womanhood is turned into a plastic, hyperfeminine, hypersexualized product designed to cater to and be sold to men,’ another added.

‘They turn concerts into campaign rallies, then wonder why people stop watching.’

Another wrote: ‘One reason many Americans did not watch the VMAs.’

‘If celebs actually cared, they’d be donating money and helping communities, not holding cardboard on stage,’ someone else chimed in.

Yet another commentator made a reference to trans school shooter Robin Westman, who opened fire at a Minneapolis Catholic school church last month, killing two children.

‘Right after a trans person shot up a school in Minnesota? This feels insensitive tbh. Maybe I’m wrong?’

Another called the performance ‘fake activism.’

‘This feels performative.’

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Carpenter was joined on stage by drag queens for her performance at the UBS Arena in New York, which included a dance break in the rain

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Her background dancers also carried signs that read ‘In trans we trust’, ‘Dolls, dolls, dolls,’ ‘Support drag,’ ‘Protect trans rights’ and ‘If you hate, you’ll never get laid’

Not all of her fans were pleased, with one accusing the singer of turning womanhood ‘into a plastic, hyperfeminine, hypersexualized product designed to cater to and be sold to men’

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But others defended the singer, saying it was ‘absurd’ to take issue with the performance which was ‘defending trans rights’

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Later in the show, Carpenter returned to the stage to accept the award for Best Album, thanking her ‘queens on stage’

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Sabrina triumphed over Gaga in the Best Album category for Short N Sweet, and in her speech she mentioned ‘discrimination’ and ‘negativity’

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Sabrina took home three Moon Person trophies in total