Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter startled the audience by kissing an extraterrestrial backup dancer during her 2024 MTV Video Music Awards performance. The 25-year-old sang her smash song “Please Please Please” from her Short N Sweet album as she made her way to the platform on a glittering swing. Carpenter was surrounded by astronauts and extraterrestrials as she entered her single “Taste,” which set the scene for her surprise kiss.

A number of social media users made light-hearted connections between Donald Trump’s remarks regarding transgender people and illegal immigrants and the alien kiss.

One follower made fun of Carpenter’s performance’s otherworldly quality by saying, “Not the transgender illegal alien who eats cats and dogs 😭.” A different commenter said, “Trump was correct! An already unexpected VMAs moment is further satirised by the fact that they are doing gender reassignment surgery on aliens.

The kiss, which was initially intended as a tribute to Carpenter’s Taste video and her earlier on-screen kiss with Jenna Ortega, has since become the subject of political memes, showing how quickly moments from pop culture can turn into wider social commentary on the internet.

In addition to her song “Espresso,” Carpenter’s assertive and jovial VMAs presence remained during the performance. Carpenter made her VMAs debut in 2023 during the pre-show, but this year she is nominated for seven awards, including Best Pop Artist and Artist of the Year.

Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, and Video Vanguard Award recipient Katy Perry were among the other performers. For the first time, Megan Thee Stallion hosted the function.