- During her Coachella 2026 headlining set, Sabrina Carpenter mistook a fan’s Zaghrouta — a traditional Arabic celebratory chant — for yodeling, calling it “weird” even after the attendee explained it was part of her culture.
- The exchange went viral overnight, sparking backlash and accusations of Islamophobia on social media.
- Carpenter issued a public apology on X the next day, saying her reaction was rooted in confusion and sarcasm, and that she “could have handled it better.”
Sabrina Carpenter‘s long-awaited Coachella headlining moment was always going to be a big deal. She practically promised it herself back in 2024, ad-libbing a cocky little lyrical outro to “Nonsense” that went, “Coachella, see you back here when I headline.” Two years later, she delivered. Mostly.
Because somewhere between the Old Hollywood theatrics, the Susan Sarandon cameo, and the debut performances of new tracks from Man’s Best Friend, Carpenter stepped in it — and the internet was very much watching.
During Friday night’s set, the singer was seated at the piano when she heard a loud, high-pitched sound from the crowd and, seemingly unaware it was a Zaghrouta — a trilling vocal sound common to Middle Eastern and North African cultures — reacted with visible confusion.
“I think I heard someone yodel. Is that what you’re doing? I don’t like it,” Carpenter said onstage.
The fan, to her credit, didn’t let it slide. She called back: “It’s my culture!” Carpenter’s response? “That’s your culture, yodeling?” before adding, “Is this Burning Man? What’s going on? This is weird.”
Yikes.
Sabrina Carpenter está sendo criticada após tirar sarro de fã que fez um 'zaghrouta', som com a boca para simbolizar alegria na cultura árabe e africana, durante show no Coachella.
A fã explicou que era algo da sua cultura, mas mesmo assim foi chamada de estranha pela artista. pic.twitter.com/KttJfiMy34
— POPTime (@poptime) April 11, 2026A Zaghrouta is often used by women in the Middle East and North Africa as a way to express joy — described by the educational resource Arab America as “a form of a long, wavering, high-pitched vocal sound representing trills of joy,” produced by “a rapid back and forth movement of the tongue.” It is, to be clear, not yodeling. And it is absolutely not weird.
The clip spread quickly, and the backlash followed right behind it. “The way Sabrina doubled down and decided to continue to be ignorant even after it was clarified yodeling is part of that person’s culture says a lot about her,” one disappointed fan wrote on X. “Did Sabrina Carpenter just call that girl’s culture weird and creepy?” another added.
The interaction sparked backlash for Carpenter, who directly replied to an X post that wrote, “Sabrina saying that she doesn’t like a cultural Arabic cheer… this is so insensitive and Islamophobic. I am very disappointed in her.”
To her credit, Carpenter didn’t wait long to address it. On Saturday, she took to X with an apology that managed to be both genuinely contrite and characteristically casual: “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.”
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 https://t.co/f3KuT8sggH
— Sabrina Carpenter (@SabrinaAnnLynn) April 11, 2026The apology received much praise from fans, who considered the moment merely a miscommunication. The original poster also accepted the singer’s explanation of the situation. One supporter noted: “It is not like you went back and repeated everything the lady said to confirm whether it was what she had been saying.”
Still, not everyone was ready to close the book on it. The consensus among critics was less about not knowing what a Zaghrouta is, and more about the fact that Carpenter continued poking fun even after the fan explained it was a call of celebration.
Aside from the incident, Friday’s set had plenty of genuine highlights. Carpenter had a star-studded slate of cameos, including features from Sam Elliott, Susan Sarandon, and Will Ferrell, while she also notably performed a few of her own tracks for the first time, including “We Almost Broke Up Last Night” and “When Did You Get Hot?” from Man’s Best Friend.
Carpenter’s Old Hollywood-themed show also featured Susan Sarandon making a cameo as an older version of the pop star in a theatrical segment, after Sarandon recently said she had been blacklisted in Hollywood over her pro-Palestine views. So. A lot going on.
Next week, Carpenter will deliver her second Coachella headlining performance on Friday, April 17. One imagines she’ll be paying a little more attention to the crowd this time.
