Olivia Rodrigo was on-stage performing her hit song “Vampire” for the MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday, when the back of her stage wall and props came crashing down.
The star was holding the microphone and singing when the trees, lights, and props that were behind her suddenly fell from way up high, all the way to the stage floor. Trees situated on the stage began falling as fireworks were going off behind the star. Rodrigo gasped, and hunched down as she looked at the damage behind her, and security guards and stage crew representatives immediately rushed onto the stage and ushered her off.
A stagehand directs Olivia Rodrigo off stage during her MTV #VMAs performance. https://t.co/mLNbmLXyoC pic.twitter.com/QBklzJTry0
— Variety (@Variety) September 13, 2023
A curtain was dropped over the very visible damage, and the cameras began to pan the audience.
Shocked faces and wide eyes filled the crowd for a few moments.
Rodrigo’s backup dancers then took to the stage once more and began dancing in front of the mid-section curtain that was dropped to cover the broken backdrop and the evidence of a scene gone very wrong. (RELATED: Video Captures Popular Rapper’s On-Stage Injury)
Users online have speculated that the incident was staged.
There are no reports of injuries at this time.