Spears also said she was confused as to why Carpenter would kiss an alien during her performance.

The 2024 MTV Video Music Awards were filled with plenty of nods and tributes to Britney Spears -- and the pop icon took notice.

There was hot girl host of the night Megan Thee Stallion wearing an outfit the resembled Spears' "I'm a Slave 4 U" 2001 VMAs performance look, complete with a live albino Burmese python. Tate McRae also appeared to re-create one of Spears' lacy looks from VMAs past.

But, it was Sabrina Carpenter's performance that Spears reacted to in an Instagram video the following day.

Carpenter did a medley of her three hit songs "Please Please Please," "Taste" and "Espresso." During the transition from the first song to the second, she sampled a snippet from Spears' "Oops!...I Did It Again" music video where she says, "But I thought the old lady dropped into the ocean in the end."

The space-themed VMAs performance was reminiscent of Spears' also spaced influenced music video and featured astronaut dancers.

However, there was a moment that Spears said confused her: when Carpenter kissed the alien. "I didn't watch the VMAs," she said in her video. "But I did see stuff on my phone from YouTube of Sabrina Carpenter."

"Why is she kissing an alien onstage?" she asked, saying she adores Carpenter but "I didn't understand that part. Why didn't she kiss a girl?"

Spears famously shared a kiss with Madonna at the 2003 VMAs when she and Christina Aguilera performed together. Carpenter also shares a smooch with Jenna Ortega in the "Taste" music video.

While Spears thought the moment was "weird," she did think it was "kind of cool" that Carpenter mentioned her.

"This Sabrina girl said my name on the red carpet and I thought that was kind of cool," Spears said. "I forget I'm famous sometimes. I'm a mom... I'm kind of old, but that was kind of cool."

She then added, "This Sabrina girl... Carpenter. Thanks! That's cool! She made me cool!"

Many other people on the internet also had thoughts about Carpenter's alien kiss.

"sabrina carpenter making out with an alien and being jealous about it wasn't really on my 2024 bingo card," user @laurenscorp tweeted.

"sabrina carpenter killed it tbh. a moonman themed performance with a britney spears reference and making out with an alien is all very #VMA," @bedchem_ also wrote.

"Sabrina Carpenter's first performance looks amazing & my favorite part is where she sings Please, Please, Please at the beginning & kissed an alien," yet another person wrote, alongside screenshots of the performance.

One fan also called it the new "Madonna x Britney" moment.

It should be noted that not only did Carpenter give Spears a nod at the VMAs. She also paid tribute to Madonna herself.

On the red carpet, Carpenter wore the same vintage Bob Mackie white gown that the "Like a Virgin" singer wore to the 1991 Oscars.