Madonna forgets what award she’s won and calls out Sabrina Carpenter in chaotic VMAs speeches

During the 2026 VMAs, Madonna delivered a chaotic acceptance speech characterized by confusion over which award she had actually won. While on stage, Madonna addressed Sabrina Carpenter, specifically calling out Carpenter's team for taking five days to respond to her. According to coverage from Billboard, this interaction occurred during the speech for Best Collab. Madonna further revealed that the collaboration between the two artists came about because she had slid into Sabrina Carpenter's direct messages to initiate the partnership. Multiple outlets have focused on the tension and subsequent reactions following the speech.

Yahoo and HOLA reported on Madonna's claims regarding being ghosted for five days by Carpenter's representatives. Meanwhile, BuzzFeed and HuffPost highlighted that Sabrina Carpenter cheekily defended herself following the public call-out. The media attention also extended to the non-verbal cues of the evening, with Yahoo reporting that a body language expert analyzed Carpenter's specific reactions to Madonna's comments during the televised event. Context for the event includes the high-profile nature of the collaboration and the visual spectacle of the ceremony. Instyle.com detailed Carpenter's appearance at the VMAs, noting she wore a plunging baby pink gown featuring fringe beads.

The situation gained further complexity when MTV censored portions of Carpenter's own speech. Yahoo reports that the words bleeped by the network have since been revealed, with Carpenter disclosing what was removed from her speech after Madonna's comments about the five-day wait period. Future developments involve the fallout from the censored remarks and the ongoing dynamic between the two artists. Based on the coverage, observers are tracking the revealed content of Carpenter's bleeped speech and the aftermath of Madonna's public statements regarding the collaboration's origins. The reports from Yahoo and other sources indicate that the primary point of contention remains the communication timeline between Madonna and Carpenter's professional team leading up to the Best Collab award.