Sabrina Carpenter's racy dance at Brits sparks hundreds of Ofcom complaints

Yahoo

05-03-2025

The Brit Awards sparked more than 800 Ofcom complaints over Sabrina Carpenter's raunchy opening dance routine and Charli XCX's sheer outfit.
Viewers made 825 complaints about the star-studded awards ceremony held at the O2 Arena, in London, after watching the broadcast on Saturday, 1 March on ITV1. The majority of complaints were made in relation to Carpenter's dance routine and Charli XCX's choice of attire at the occasion.
An Ofcom spokesperson told Yahoo UK: "We are assessing the complaints against our rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate."
Charli XCX had no comment when approached by Yahoo UK. Yahoo UK has reached out to Sabrina Carpenter's representatives for further comment.
Fans on social media warned there would be "hundreds of complaints" after Carpenter took to the stage to perform a medley of Espresso and Bed Chem. Among the comments, one person said: "Every parent complaining to Ofcom after watching that Sabrina Carpenter performance with their kids #BRITs2025."
Other viewers spoke out in her defence, including one person who said: "Sabrina already getting ofcom complaints for her brits performance is so funny why does this country hate having fun."
The Brit Awards ceremony started at the family-friendly, pre-watershed time of 8.15pm with Carpenter opening the show.
Before the amount of complaints were published, the cheeky singer shrugged off the controversy around her performance. She laughed it off writing on Instagram to her 45.1 million followers: "Brits! I now know what post-watershed is."
Carpenter swapped her glamorous pink dress she wore on the red carpet for scarlet lingerie on stage. As well as underwear, the Espresso hitmaker accessorised her look with a waspie belt, fishnet tights and heels.
Another of her stage outfits was a nod to celebrating the United Kingdom with a red sequinned blazer dress, and her routine saw her walk down the aisle lit up with the Union flag.
However, one controversial moment from the dance routine saw Carpenter shimmy down to her backing dancer's waist with her microphone in her hand. Dressed as a royal guard, the dancer directly winked to the camera.
Carpenter received the global success award on the evening. She said of receiving her award: "The Brits have given me this award, and this feels like such an insane honour in a very primarily tea-drinking country... You really understood my dry sense of humour because your sense of humour is so, so dry. So I love y'all more than you even understand."
Charli XCX was among the biggest winners at the Brit Awards as she took home a total of five awards, including: best song, best album and best artist. Yet like Carpenter, the songwriter also drew controversy at the awards ceremony.
The Brat singer — real name Charlotte Aitchison — sparked Ofcom complaints when she graced the stage in her daring outfit. Her black dress featured a sheer skirt which put her underwear on display.
In November, she spoke about the return of "messy fashion". She told Harper's Bazaar of her looks: "I feel like we're in this world where there's so much pressure to uphold the standard of perfection, and it's just not realistic... I think when you see someone kind of embracing their flaws and being messy, you recognise a bit of yourself in that. You feel like it's okay to be messy yourself."
The Brit Awards are streaming on ITVX.