Sabrina Carpenter used her win for Best Album at the 2025 MTV VMAs to advocate for transgender rights.
During her performance at the ceremony, Carpenter was flanked by trans people and drag queens carrying signs that bore slogans such as, “In trans we trust”, “Protect Trans Rights”, “Dolls, dolls, dolls,” “If you hate, you’ll never get laid,” and “Support drag”.
Later accepting her award for Best Album, for 2024’s Short’n’Sweet, Carpenter said she was grateful to have had the opportunity to shine a light on a marginalised and persecuted community.
“This world, as we all know, can be so full of criticism and discrimination and negativity,” she said.
“So to get to be part of something that can bring light, make you smile, make you dance, and make you feel like the world is your f***ing oyster… I’m so grateful to do that.”
Carpenter, 26, is one of a number of musicians using their platform to speak up in support of the trans community.
US president Donald Trump spent his first few weeks back in office targeting the rights of transgender people via a slew of executive orders.
More recently, he has ramped up those attacks, including potential proposals to block trans people from possessing guns – a move that even the NRA is vehemently opposing.
Meanwhile, federal workers have been ordered to strip government websites of so-called “gender ideology”, while Trump’s administration has also enforced a ban on transgender people serving in the military.
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Carpenter’s latest album, Man’s Best Friend, was released last week. In a review for The Independent, critic Adam White praised the “incredible highs” on the record but also lamented the “first draft” nature of some of the other songs, which he believed circled many of. the same themes from her last album.
Elsewhere during the VMAs ceremony, Yungblud and Aerosmith stars Steven Tyler and Joe Perry led a tribute to late British rocker Ozzy Osbourne, who died in July aged 76.
Other performances came from Canadian singer and dancer Tate McRae, who received praise for her impressive choreography, and pop star Mariah Carey, who was met with a more muted response due to what many deemed a “lacklustre” show.
You can find the full list of MTV VMAs 2025 winners on the night here.
