Sabrina Carpenter apologizes after mistaking Arab fan’s chant for ‘yodeling’ at Coachella

Sabrina Carpenter issued an apology after facing backlash for asking a fan why they were “yodelling” during her performance at Coachella. 

The incident occurred Friday night on the main stage, when Carpenter paused between songs and heard a loud sound from the crowd. After finishing her song “Please Please Please” and sitting at the keyboard as the audience quieted, one fan continued shouting, prompting confusion from the pop singer.

“I think I heard someone yodel,” Carpenter said, leading the fan to repeat the sound. Carpenter then responded, “Is that what you’re doing?” before shaking her head and adding with a face of disgust, “I don’t like it.”

“It’s my culture,” the fan replied.

“That’s your culture, is yodeling?” Carpenter asked.

“It’s a call of celebration,” the fan said, to which Caprent joked, “Is this Burning Man? What’s going on? This is weird.”

The moment quickly went viral online, with many identifying the sound as a  “zaghrouta,” a traditional celebratory vocal expression used in arab cultures at events such as parties or weddings. Carpenter immediately faced pushback online from her own audience, with social media users accusing her of insensitivity. In response to one post that read “sabrina saying that she doesn’t like a cultural arabic cheer… this is so insensitive and islamophobic. i am very disappointed in her,” Carpenter issued an apology.

“my apologies i didn’t see this person with my eyes and couldn’t hear clearly. my reaction was pure confusion, sarcasm and not ill intended. could have handled it better! now i know what a Zaghrouta is!” Carpenter wrote. “I welcome all cheers and yodels from here on out.”

Despite the apology, other users defended the singer, arguing that the interruption came during a quiet moment in the performance and that her reaction was reasonable. They also pointed out that just because something is a part of one’s “culture,” it does not mean it cannot be criticized.

“Being annoyed that an audience member is interrupting a quiet moment of live performance is completely normal and fine. Should we allow people to do the haka in the middle of a ballet performance or play bagpipes during a movie because it’s their culture?” one X user wrote.

“Oh you don't know about my niche cultural chant?? You're racist how dare you not respect me,” another user added sarcastically.

Podcaster Caleb Hammer weighed in, criticizing Carpenter and saying she deserved the backlash after fueling “toxic online gender wars.”

“She has spent the past few years fueling the toxic online gender wars which has made her curate the most bottom of the barrel horrendous people to her audience…And those are the exact kind of people who will eat you alive at the moment you even slightly step out of line, or make a joke, or disagree with them on 0.1% of issues,” Hammer said, “Actions, meet consequences.”