"Busy Woman" Sabrina Carpenter has officially arrived at the 2025 MTV VMAs, and she's not playing around.

For the first time, she performed "Tears" – the second single off her latest album "Man's Best Friend" – on the stage in New York on Sept. 7 and took the opportunity to make a statement.

After she made a grand entrance by emerging from a manhole in the stage, the princess of lyrical sexual innuendos sang and danced onstage alongside a cast of backup dancers that seemingly included drag performers, mirroring the song's music video that featured Colman Domingo in drag.

Before heading into a second round of the chorus, the performers pulled out picket signs with messages such as "protect trans rights," "Dolls dolls dolls," "In trans we trust" and "If you hate you'll never get laid."

For the unindoctrinated, the latter refers to her new song "Never Getting Laid."

She stripped down to a fringed bra and tights as she and the dancers were doused with rain on stage for a grand finale.

Later, while accepting the trophy for best album, Carpenter expressed gratitude to those who performed with her.

"I'm just the luckiest girl in the world," she told the crowd.

"And I do want to say to my incredible cast and dancers and my queens on stage with me tonight: This world, as we all know, can be so full of criticism and discrimination and negativity, so to get to be part of something – so often more than not – that is something that can bring you light, make you smile, make you dance, and make you feel like the world is your ... oyster, I'm so grateful to do that."

Sabrina Carpenter's VMAs red carpet look channeled Jessica Rabbit

Earlier in the night, the 26-year-old "Manchild" singer wore a glittery floor-length, semi-opaque custom red Valentino gown and her signature loose blonde curls defied gravity in a voluminous hairstyle as she arrived at New York's UBS Arena on Sunday, Sept. 7.

On a night where accessories – from edible lipstick to a Moon Person Labubu – stole the show, Carpenter evoked Jessica Rabbit and Old Hollywood glam with a feathery lavender boa.

Carpenter is nominated for many of the major categories, including video of the year (for "Manchild" off her new album "Man's Best Friend"), best pop artist and best album ("Short n' Sweet").

At last year's VMAs, Carpenter won song of the year with the summer 2024 earworm "Espresso." From there, the former Disney Channel star went on to win her first Grammys in her first year as a nominee. She took home the best pop vocal album and best pop solo performance trophies in February.

Aside from Carpenter, the other 2025 VMAs performers included Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, Post Malone, Busta Rhymes, Jelly Roll, Conan Gray, Doja Cat and Tate McRae.

As "Man's Best Friend" released Aug. 29, Carpenter's seventh studio album is not a contender for this year's VMAs. However, the record's first single, the excoriating "Manchild," is picking up the baton from "Espresso" last year.

"This creative process was all about embracing spontaneity, all about embracing impulses that I was having and experiences I was having that were very urgent to write about, knowing that if I didn't make this album and have it represent the chapter of my life that it represents, it would've never been this album," Carpenter said at a Spotify album release event in Los Angeles on Aug. 28.

"It would've turned into something else, and I think that would've done a disservice to the album."

Full of her signature cheeky double entendres and sexual metaphors, "Man's Best Friend's" 12 tracks include "House Tour," "Nobody's Son" and "Go Go Juice."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sabrina Carpenter throws support behind trans rights in 'Tears' debut performance at VMAs

Reporting by KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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