Sabrina Carpenter on Saturday issued an apology on X after mistaking a fan’s Zaghrouta, an Arabic celebration call, with yodeling during her headlining Coachella set on Friday night.
“My apologies, I didn’t see this person with my eyes and couldn’t hear clearly,” Carpenter wrote. “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.”
Videos of the altercation were shared online following Carpenter’s set. As the “Espresso” songwriter sat down at her piano on Coachella’s main stage, a fan in the audience let out a Zaghrouta. Carpenter then said into the mic, “I think I heard someone yodel. Is that what you’re doing? I don’t like it.” The fan then yelled, “It’s my culture!” Carpenter replied, “That’s your culture, is yodeling?” The fan could then be heard saying, “It’s a call of celebration.” Carpenter then quipped, “Is this Burning Man? What’s going on? This is weird.”
Carpenter’s comments sparked outrage on social media, with some observers condemning the two-time Grammy winner for being callous toward the cultural outcry of joy.
Carpenter is one of this year’s Coachella headliners along with Justin Bieber and Karol G. Her Friday night performance featured cameos from Sam Elliot, Will Ferrell and Susan Sarandon, who delivered a 7-minute monologue during one of Carpenter’s costume changes.
In Variety’s review of the performance, reporter Ethan Shanfeld wrote that Carpenter brought “a rollicking, raunchy and hit-filled headlining Coachella set,” but one that was “front-loaded with hits” and weighed down by a “brutal lull” in the middle.
Source: variety.com
