Selena Gomez reacts to Olivia Rodrigo's stage mishap at MTV VMAs 2023: Watch

Selena Gomez displayed clear concern during Olivia Rodrigo's performance at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards.

Rodrigo kicked off the awards show on Tuesday night with a medley of songs from her latest album, "Guts." However, as she was midway through performing "Vampire," there was an unexpected incident. The 20-year-old singer's set seemed to start collapsing.

As Rodrigo moved across the stage, a red drape suddenly descended from the rafters, and sparks began to fly, prompting a man to rush out to redirect the Grammy-winning artist.

Amidst the chaos, the camera shifted to Gomez, who appeared genuinely alarmed by the unfolding situation before her. Her eyes widened, and she instinctively brought her hand to her temple. Rodrigo exited the stage, and the lights went out.

Surprisingly, the startling moment turned out to be a planned part of the performance, and Rodrigo returned to the stage for the second half of her act.

Shortly afterward, a photograph capturing Gomez's concerned expression went viral on Twitter. Many people speculated that the "Calm Down" singer might have been showing shade toward Rodrigo due to the young star's rumored feud with her close friend, Taylor Swift.

"Not Selena Gomez covering her ears during Olivia Rodrigo's performance," one person tweeted, while another user commented, "Selena being weird towards Nicki [Minaj] and Olivia... but she's supposedly the 'nice innocent girl' that's an EVIL mean girl."

However, some fans rushed to Gomez's defense, providing context for those who hadn't watched the awards show live.

"This is very out of context. Selena was worried Olivia's set was actually falling apart, and that's why she had that reaction. Stop trying to pit them against each other," one person tweeted alongside a video of the incident.

"This is completely unfair and out of context: Olivia pretended to have her set break down and semi-explode as she was fake rushed off stage, and Selena was reacting to that, probably thinking something was really going wrong," another added.

Before the incident, both women had made stunning appearances on the red carpet. Gomez wore an eye-catching red dress, adorned with six figures worth of diamonds, while the 31-year-old actress turned heads in a low-cut Oscar de la Renta gown featuring a high slit and red beaded flowers. Rodrigo, on the other hand, shone in a glittery silver Ludovic de Saint Sernin dress that highlighted her curves beautifully.