Tyla isn’t letting critics ruin her big VMA moment.
After winning the Moon Person for best Afrobeats video for her hit single Water at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, the South African singer faced backlash over a lighthearted exchange with her award presenters, Lil Nas X and Halle Bailey.
As she struggled to hold the trophy, Tyla, 22, jokingly asked her colleagues, who were nearby, to help hold the award. While Lil Nas X obliged, Bailey didn’t step forward, sparking online chatter.
Fans on X (formerly Twitter) quickly weighed in, with some suggesting Bailey wasn’t interested in helping.
“Halle said baby I am NOT the help. Hold your own award boo. Tyla tried it #VMAs,” wrote one viewer.
Tyla, however, took to social media to shut down the criticism, writing, "Y’all make everything weird. I was not asking my girl Halle… We just girls, STFU I WON A VMAAAA."
The Little Mermaid star backed up Tyla’s comments, responding to her post with, “exactly love u babes congrats.”
In her speech, Tyla celebrated the global impact of Water but also used the moment to address the tendency to group all African artists under one genre.
"African music is so diverse. It’s more than just Afrobeats," she stated, highlighting the need for more recognition of the continent’s musical diversity.