SZA's decision to cancel her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) was not solely based on her lack of nomination, but rather due to what her manager, Terrence "Punch" Henderson, perceived as "disrespect."
Punch expressed dissatisfaction with SZA being excluded from the Artist of the Year category at the 2023 VMAs. “That was the disrespect,” he said. “It wasn’t not getting nominated. The ultimate disrespect is you don’t even want to discuss why she wasn’t nominated or what the criteria was.” MTV allegedly refused to engage in discussions about the snub, dismissing the issue by pointing to SZA's other nominations.
Punch compared this response to the controversial 2018 NBA moment involving Laura Ingraham and LeBron James, interpreting it as MTV telling SZA to "shut up and dribble." MTV has not responded to these claims.
