Madonna, 68, hit with 'lip syncing' accusations in celeb-filled VMAs opener

Lauren DuBois, Angelica Cheyenne Mon, September 28, 2026 at 12:42 AM UTC

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Madonna was caught lip syncing at the VMAs (Image: MTV)

Madonna, whose music videos helped build MTV's popularity when the network launched in 1981, returned to the MTV Video Music Awards stage for the first time in over 20 years-but many quickly noticed she was lip-syncing in her iconic return to the stage.

Madonna's highly anticipated performance has been a long time coming, as her last VMA appearance was in 2003, when she performed with fellow pop queens Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, then a rival to Christina. During the 2003 VMAs show, Madonna is remembered for kissing both Christina and Britney.

Now, after also facing criticisms during her World Cup performance over the summer, fans were quick to point out that the legendary pop star wasn't singing live at the VMAs.

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The singer opened the show by performing alongside Sabrina Carpenter for their track, Bring Your Love, before then welcoming Charli XCX for Danceteria.

And while the performance was largely praised, including for the number of celebrities who joined the singers onstage, some fans couldn't help but point out that it was obvious to them that Madonna was lip-syncing.

Madonna fans noticed she was lip syncing at the VMAs (Image: MTV)

On X (formerly Twitter), several called out that there were several moments where it appeared obvious that Madonna wasn't actually singing, even as they admitted to appreciating it as a whole.

"That Madonna performance was actually insane even if the camera did catch her red-handed lip-syncing," one person wrote.

"They had to cut away to "hide" that Madonna is lip-syncing cuz the mic wasn't even near her face in that one shot," another said.

Others still praised her, calling the 68-year-old an "icon" who earned the right to do it.

Stage design was incredible. Madonna did not care to say the words to her song while clearly lip-syncing, and that's okay cause she's earned it," one person said.

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"15 mins delay & they still show MADONNA not singing during a transition~ I can't wait to turn this off #VMAS she seems lethargic* this part with her doing yoga on a rotating board is cool tho still would hit ong omg it's CHARLI XCX ok this "DANCETERIA." part kicks ass," another wrote.

"Madonna is so funny, like not even trying to hide the fact that the mic isn't on. What an icon," a third added.

Many fans still praised her as an icon who earned the right to lip sync (Image: MTV)

However, many others still slammed the move, specifically that it was as obvious as it was.

"Madonna was lip-syncing. Lame," one person said.

"Madonna has been in the game far too long to be that obviously lip-syncing...This is really bad," a second wrote.

"The lip-syncing on the VMAs is awful from this Madonna performance," a third added.

"So Madonna is obviously lip-syncing, and I've never seen a worse performance," a fourth chimed in.

Along with performing at the 2026 MTV VMAs, the 68-year-old singer also led nominations for this year's awards ceremony.

While Madonna received 13 nominations, she is followed by Taylor Swift with 11, Sabrina Carpenter with 9, Ariana Grande with 8, and Bruno Mars with 6.

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Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”