This past weekend, American pop culture enthusiasts were tuned in to the Oscars. Over in the UK, though, it was all about the BRIT Awards, essentially their version of the Grammys. Indeed, big names were at the BRITs, including Sabrina Carpenter, who delivered a racy performance that got some folks upset.
The performance had many online thinking about the UK’s 9 p.m. watershed, meaning that programming not suitable for young audiences cannot be aired before that time in the UK. (In United States television broadcasting, there’s also a watershed and it’s at 10 p.m.) This had some joking that some viewers would be reaching out to Ofcom, a UK regulatory group with authority over the country’s broadcasting. One X (formerly Twitter) user wrote, “Sabrina Carpenter doing Bed Chem pre-watershed? The ofcom complaints about that performance are gonna be through the roof but I enjoyed it. That’s my girl!”
Indeed, there were upset viewers.
One wrote, “Sorry not a good idea to open up with before 9pm! It’s still family time, very inappropriate.” Another said, “As a dad of 11 and 13 year old girls I am fuming that this was the opening scenes of #BRITs2025.” Another wrote, “F*cking ridiculous. 8.23pm. Lots of little girls watching this. Learning that female artists have to dress & perform like a prostitute to become famous.. @Ofcom @ITV there’s a watershed for a reason. Who decided this was appropriate for family viewing at 8.20 on sat prime time?”
It’s not clear how many complaints Ofcom actually received, but some see the backlash as a badge of honor: One user wrote, “The fact there are threats to contact Ofcom after Sabrina Carpenter’s BRITs performance shows pop music is well and truly back.”
Check out the performance above.
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