Sabrina Carpenter has apologised after facing backlash for her response to a fan's Arabic celebration call during her Coachella headline set. The 26-year-old pop star said her reaction was 'pure confusion' and not intended to cause offence.
The incident occurred on Friday night (10 April) during Carpenter's Old Hollywood-themed performance, when a fan in the audience let out a Zaghrouta – a high-pitched, trilling sound traditionally made by women to express joy at celebrations such as weddings and graduations. Carpenter, speaking into her microphone, said: 'I think I heard someone yodel. Is that what you're doing? I don't like it.'
When the fan responded, 'It's my culture!', Carpenter replied: 'That's your culture, is yodelling?' The fan then explained it was a 'call of celebration', to which Carpenter quipped: 'Is this Burning Man? What's going on? This is weird.' The exchange was widely shared on social media, with some critics describing her comments as culturally insensitive.
In a statement posted on X on Saturday (12 April), Carpenter wrote: '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! I welcome all cheers and yodels from here on out.'
The set also featured cameos from Will Ferrell and Sam Elliott, as well as a near seven-minute monologue from Susan Sarandon, who played an older version of the singer. Carpenter was the first headliner of the festival, with Justin Bieber performing on Saturday and Karol G still to close the event.
