Popstar Sabrina Carpenter has issued a public apology after a moment from her headline Coachella set went viral – one in which she mistook a traditional Arabic celebration call for yodelling and described it as “weird” in front of a live audience.
The “Espresso” singer was headlining the iconic California festival for the first time when the exchange with an audience member was captured on the livestream and spread rapidly across social media.
What began as a seemingly throwaway remark during a piano interlude soon snowballed into one of the most talked-about moments of the weekend, overshadowing what had otherwise been widely praised as an ambitious, star-studded performance.
What happened on stage
The incident unfolded on Friday night as Carpenter sat down at her piano on Coachella’s main stage, when a fan in the audience let out a Zaghrouta – a traditional Arabic celebration call. Carpenter paused her set and addressed the sound directly, saying, “I think I heard someone yodel. Is that what you’re doing? I don’t like it.”
The fan yelled back, “It’s my culture!” To which Carpenter replied, “That’s your culture, is yodeling?” The fan could then be heard saying, “It’s a call of celebration,” prompting Carpenter to quip, “Is this Burning Man? What’s going on? This is weird.”
The Zaghrouta, also referred to as ululation, is a high-pitched, trilling vocal call common across Arab, Middle Eastern and North African cultures, traditionally used to express joy during weddings, births, festivals and other celebratory occasions. It bears no connection to yodelling, a Swiss and Alpine folk technique involving rapid pitch changes.
Backlash and cultural criticism
Videos of the exchange spread online following Carpenter’s set, sparking outrage on social media, with some observers condemning the two-time Grammy winner for being dismissive toward the cultural expression.
Many critics pointed out that Carpenter’s repeated dismissals after being informed of the cultural significance of the sound were the central issue. As one social media user wrote, “I love Sabrina, but I’m also Arab. Nobody is saying that she needs to know everything about every culture, but she continued to ignore the culture comment even after she was given a full explanation. ‘It’s my culture’ should be enough.”
According to posts circulating on X, others used stronger language, calling the behaviour “xenophobic” and labelling the singer a “mean girl.” Some users, however, defended the pop star, arguing the live environment could have made it genuinely difficult to identify the sound, and that there was no evidence of malicious intent.
The apology
The following day, Carpenter addressed the backlash directly on X by quoting a 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.”
In her response, 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.”
As per reports from Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, the apology was generally well-received by a segment of her fanbase, with many acknowledging the swift and direct nature of her response.
Carpenter headlined Coachella 2026 on Friday night – the first of the three announced headliners – alongside Justin Bieber and Karol G. Her set also featured notable cameos from Sam Elliott, Susan Sarandon and Will Ferrell, and marked the live debut of several tracks from her latest record, Man’s Best Friend. She is scheduled to perform again at the festival on April 17 for Weekend 2.