Images by Eva Rinaldi and crommelincklars on Wikimedia
The American Music Awards took place yesterday after being on a two year hiatus and has not gone down well with fans. The show has been criticised for fake performances, lack of awards and celebrities not showing up.
The awards was hosted by controversial singer Jennifer Lopez, who has been facing hate online for years after being criticised for her documentary and accused of being rude to staff. This led to viewers of the AMA’s being upset over the choice of host. Despite her performances, medley and costume changes Lopez has been ridiculed for her on stage kiss.
She started the show with a performance of her song ‘Dance Again’ before completing a dance routine to a radio hits medley. Halfway through the performance Lopez kissed two of her background dancers, causing social media users to become divided. With one X user writing, “JLO KISSED A GIRL!!! Sapphic JLovers we won!!!!” and another writing, “JLO kissing her female dancers oh she wants to be relevant so bad”.
The singer has been accused of using the kisses to get back at her ex-husband Ben Affleck after their high profile divorce.
JLO we know you're not a lesbian, don't even try to shock us kissing a girl. You collect engagement rings from men like infinity stones. #AMAs2025 #AMAs pic.twitter.com/byNQMbgrQH
— Basically Hollywood (@Basic_Hollywood) May 27, 2025
The second controversy of the night was none of the nominees for Album of the Year showing up and the lack of attendees. This led to musicians accepting their awards over the phone and 30 being announced on X. After two hours only six awards were announced causing TikToker @saronthings to say it was, “several hours that none of us are getting back” on her video about the show.
Billie Eilish, who won seven awards including Artist of the Year, Album of the year and Song of the Year was not able to accept her award in person. The Weeknd also accepted the award for Favourite Male R&B Artist over the phone, however, his blurry camera also caused a stir.
Swifties have also been disappointed after they thought Popstar Taylor Swift was hinting announcing RepTV at the AMA’s on her website, but ended up not attending the show. She also lost all nominations including Favourite Touring Artist, which went to Billie Eilish, leading to confused fans. As well as this, the AMA’s have been accused of throwing subtle shade at Taylor Swift after muting the crowd during her nomination.
Another controversy of the night was the AMA’s pre-recording performances although claiming they were live like Gwen Stefani.
Although the AMA’s were filled with a lot of controversies there were also performances by Benson Boone and Reneé Rapp. Benson Boone performed his new song ‘Mystical Magical’ with his signature backflips and Reneé Rapp performed her new single “Leave me Alone” after being introduced by TikTok star Jake Shane.
The Award Show was filled with multiple viral moments and caused a huge discussion online, how do you think it went and will they return in 2026?
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