Teyana Taylor exits stage after teleprompter glitch at Billboard awards

Teyana Taylor walked off stage after a teleprompter malfunction disrupted her acceptance speech at the 2026 Billboard Women in Music Awards.

The singer and actress took to the stage on Wednesday night to accept the Visionary Award, but was left standing in silence when the teleprompter failed to display her prepared speech.

"Can I get the teleprompt?" the 35-year-old asked as she waited on stage.

During the awkward pause, an audience member shouted, "We love you Teyana," prompting her to reply, "I love you too, girl!"

Another guest suggested that the One Battle After Another star should "ad lib" her speech, but Teyana quickly dismissed the idea.

"Ad lib? My speech is cute. They're gonna pull up this goddamn speech. Where's my speech?" she told the crowd. "Y'all know I be having good speeches this year. I wanna read my little speech. I'm not ad libbing."

Teyana also pointed out that it was the second technical issue she had experienced that evening, explaining that her microphone had failed during her earlier performance.

The teleprompter eventually displayed a message that read there was no script available, instructing the singer-songwriter to leave the stage.

"Oh, it says Teyana Taylor we have no script for you. Everyone exit stage right," she stated, as she walked off the stage.

However, the star later returned alongside music icon Dionne Warwick and was able to deliver the original speech she had prepared.

During her remarks, Teyana thanked Dionne for "being part of this moment" and expressed gratitude to Billboard "for this incredible honour".

She also praised Billboard for taking "accountability" for the incident, adding, "I want to thank Billboard for being warm. I want to thank Billboard for coming into the room right away and acknowledging what was done."

Billboard later released a statement apologising to the All's Fair actress for the "uncomfortable error".