2023 Juno Awards Highlights: Topless Protester Gatecrashes Stage, Simu Liu Cheats In Opening Monologue & More

Bigger in Texas! Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown return to host the 2023 CMT Music Awards on Sunday, April 2.

The topless protester that stormed the stage while Avril Lavigne presented an award at the 2023 Junos on Monday is speaking out.

The 2023 Juno Awards, Canada’s long-running annual music awards show, saw a protestor take the stage as Avril Lavigne introduced a performer. The individual, an environmental activist, was topless and had the phrases “SAVE THE GREEN BELT” and “STOP LOGGING OLD GROWTH NOW” written on their body, references to the Ontario government’s plan to build developments on thousands of acres of the province’s protected green space and British Columbia's timber industry.

Avril Lavigne had choice words for a topless protester who crashed the stage while she was speaking at the 52nd Annual Juno Edwards Monday night. The 38-year-old hitmaker was introducing Canadian-Punjabi singer AP Dhillon's performance when a topless woman in pink sweatpants and a matching headscarf unexpectedly walked on stage at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada. The woman's breasts were covered with heart-shaped pasties, and she had messages including "save the green belt," "stop logging old growth now" and "land back" written on her arms and back.

Karen Bliss Canada’s Juno Awards broadcast didn’t need the Weeknd in the house for a little excitement at Edmonton’s Rogers Place Monday night (March 13). Albertans were already pumped with pride for the induction of their hometown rock stars, Nickelback, later in the show and a night-capping medley by the band, who hail from the tiny town of Hanna. But the 12,000 people in attendance got an unexpected eyeful when a topless protestor managed to get on the stage as Avril Lavigne was introducing top-selling Punjabi performer AP Dhillon. The camera operators did pull back to a wide shot for those watching at home, but there was no time to bleep when Lavigne let off a couple of F-bombs to get the woman off the stage.

On Monday night, Avril Lavigne had herself a little What The Hell moment!

did tell a topless protestor to “get the fuck off, bitch.” So another way of looking at this is that she handled a weird moment professionally. It's, to borrow Avril's word, !Lavigne was on stage not to perform but to introduce musician AP Dhillon when a woman wearing pink pants, a pink bandana and heart-shaped nipple pasties joined her on stage.

Avril Lavigne confronted a topless protester onstage at Canada’s Juno Awards this week – see what unfolded below.During the ceremony on Monday (March 13), Lavigne was introducing a performance when a topless protestor appeared behind her.Facing away from Lavigne and the camera, the protestor’s back was emblazoned with a message. It read “save the green belt” in protest of a new housing development plan by government in Ontario, which would build houses on protected land.As CBC News report, Lavigne said to the protestor: “Get the fuck off,” later referencing the incident again when accepting the award.She said: “Now nobody try anything this time.

Avril Lavigne had a bit of a Kanye West at the 2009 VMAs moment while on stage at an awards show.The singer was part of the slew of presenters and nominees at the Juno Awards in her home country of Canada – the awards were held in Edmonton – when none other than a topless streaker interrupted her on stage.Shortly after she was awarded the TikTok Juno Fan Choice award and was giving a speech, she was cut off by a topless woman who didn't hesitate to walk up to Avril and wave her hands in the air. The singer has had some tumultuous weeks lately, following her break up from Mod Sun, which you can learn about in the video below.WATCH: Avril Lavigne and Mod Sun splitMORE: How Avril Lavigne's black gothic wedding dress was worlds apart from her first weddingDonning an oversized mini dress paired with knee-high – and sky-high – leather boots, layered with a shiny vinyl coat, the Complicated hitmaker was waving her own hands in the air, holding up her newly earned award, when the streaker upstaged her.The culprit herself was simply wearing bubblegum pink cargo pants, with nothing else, covering her chest with nipple covers.MORE: Newly single Avril Lavigne puts on show-stopping display in knee-high bootsShe appeared to be protesting climate change, and had written over her body phrases such as: "Our clock is ticking," and: "Land back," as well as: "Save the green belt," a policy used for land-use planning in the effort to protect undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land.

suggesting she even flicked the protester’s breasts, which had tape covering the nipples.“Get the f–k off,” Lavigne said, adding with a laugh: “Get the f–k off, bitch.”The protester stuck out her tongue and her booty as security slowly led her off stage.Host Simu Liu praised the singer for “handling that topless lady like a champion” while telling the audience: “Sorry for the boobs.”Lavigne later joked about the confrontation when she accepted the Fan Choice Award.“Nobody try anything this time or the Canadian’s gonna come out in me and I’ll f–k a bitch up,” she said to cheers.After the show, she was asked about some of her most memorable moments from 20 years of the awards shows — saying: “That’s definitely going down as one of the highlights.”It was not immediately clear what happened to the protester, who was not identified in local reports. The messages on her back included “land back” and “save the green belt,” referring to the Ontario government’s proposal to build at least 50,000 new homes on protected land.The big winner was Toronto singer The Weeknd, winning a total of five Junos bringing his total to 22, second only to country-pop singer Anne Murray.

Avril Lavigne got hot-headed while performing in Canada on Monday night as the singer was interrupted by a topless environmental campaigner. The princess of pop-punk confronted the protester on stage at the Juno Awards.

It appears many Canadian fans were left disappointed with The Weeknd’s absence from the Juno Awards on Monday night.

Avril Lavigne deals with a topless protester who rushed the stage while she was introducing a musical performance at the 2023 Juno Awards on Monday (March 13) in Edmonton, Canada.

Avril Lavigne killed it at the Junos but she also had someone by her side – a naked Ontario greenbelt protestor interrupted Lavigne and drew attention to Ontario’s plans to develop portions of the greenbelt.

The 2023 Junos was a big evening for Nickelback, who were inducted in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Avril Lavigne was getting ready to introduce Canadian musician AP Dhillon, at the annual event in Edmonton, Canada Monday, when a topless streaker snuck on stage.The woman, who paraded around with her top off, hung around in the background before being noticed by the «Skater Boy» singer. Once Lavigne noticed the streaker, she shooed them off, telling the supposed fan to «Get the f**k off» the stage not once, but twice, before security escorted them away.It was a shocking moment in what's typically been a tame awards show, which was hosted again this year by Simu Liu.

Avril Lavigne is applauding Simu Liu’s hosting duties at the Juno Awards.

Indo-Canadian singer AP Dhillon rocked the stage at the 2023 Juno Awards.

Karen Bliss The Weeknd is now tied with Bryan Adams for the second most Juno Awards after the Canadian superstar added four more trophies to his stash at the Opening Night Awards, a gala industry dinner, held at the Edmonton Convention Centre on March 11. He did not come to Alberta for Canada’s biggest celebration of homegrown music, likely busy with his TV and film projects before the second leg of his global stadium tour starts overseas in June. Of course, it’s not too late for him to charter a plane to be there on Monday (March 13) for the two-hour televised show from Rogers Place, at which he’s up for two more awards — fan choice and album — and could possibly get closer to becoming the all-time biggest winner in the Junos’ 52-year history. The record-holder is songbird Anne Murray with 25 (Celine Dion has 20). In fact, the 33-year-old’s crown is guaranteed in years to come.

The Juno Awards are headed east!