Britney Spears reacts to Sabrina Carpenter's 'weird' tribute at VMAs

Sabrina Carpenter (L) and Britney Spears (R) (Getty)
Sabrina Carpenter (L) and Britney Spears (R) (Getty)

Britney Spears has shared her confusion over Sabrina Carpenter’s VMAs performance after the Please, Please, Please singer paid homage to her.

During the awards ceremony on Wednesday, the 25-year-old performed a medley of her hits on a Mars-themed set, accompanied by two dancers—one dressed as an alien and the other as an astronaut.

In a playful moment, Carpenter kissed the alien, pushing aside the astronaut who had been vying for its attention.

The kiss was a nod to her recent music video for Taste, where she shared a similar moment with Jenna Ortega, referencing the film Death Becomes Her.

Despite Carpenter incorporating a snippet from the pop icon's space-themed Oops!... I Did It Again video into the performance, Spears was left puzzled after watching clips of it online.

In a video shared with her followers, the 42-year-old expressed her thoughts on the homage. "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 began.

Carpenter performing at the VMAs (Getty Images for MTV)
Carpenter performing at the VMAs (Getty Images for MTV)

While she appreciated the nod to her famous video, she was baffled by the alien kiss. “Why is she kissing an alien on stage?" Spears asked, adding, “I adore her. I love her to death. I didn’t understand that part. Like, that was weird.”

Despite her confusion, the Circus singer was flattered that Carpenter mentioned her during a red carpet interview, calling it "kinda cool."

She continued: “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.”

Earlier this week, Carpenter won the trophy for song of the year for Espresso at the VMAs, which was held at New York’s UBS Arena,

"This is really special," she said in her speech, dedicated to her fans. "And thank you to that me-espresso."