Mariah Carey may have been feeling all the love at Sunday night’s VMA Awards. But viewers at home who watched her performance later in the evening were feeling something…completely different.
Suggested Reading
If you didn’t tune in Sunday night (Sept. 7), then you may have missed Carey accepting the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award for her long history of amazing and influential music videos. After being presented the award by Ariana Grande and giving her speech (in which she jokingly took a jab at MTV and questioned why in the “Sam Hill” it took them so long to award her a VMA), Carey took the stage again to perform a medley of her greatest hits like “Fantasy,” “Honey,” “Obsessed,” and more.
And while Carey has never been known for her extra movement or impressive choreography while performing, the show she gave apparently left much to be desired if you let social media tell it.
“Mariah Carey looks breathtaking while giving absolutely nothing,” said one user on X/Twitter.
“why is Mariah Carey lowkey being stiff,” another questioned.
“i know miss mariah carey is not old but why is she acting geriatric on the stage rn,” one other user wrote.
However, there were some who defended Carey’s alleged lack of energy and took to the internet to say as much.
“Idc if Mariah stands in one spot She is Mariah Carey,” said another user on X/Twitter.
Joked one other person : “Mariah Carey is saving her energy for Christmas and that’s okay.”
“Mariah Carey doing the bare minimum and still be an iconic,” wrote one user.
Whether it was the diva side of Carey coming out and she decided to just do enough to get through the performance or she was dealing with something that kept her from being a little bit more active — at the end of the day, she still walked away a winner despite the negativity.
Straight From 
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.