Jaden Smith has sparked backlash online after a brief interaction with a fan at Coachella.
Coachella is famous not only for its performances, but also for the huge number of celebrities and social media personalities who attend — and sometimes even make surprise appearances.
Among the notable faces spotted at this year’s festival was Jaden Smith, the son of actor Will Smith, who was seen taking in the event as the weekend got underway.
Smith was filmed by TikTok creator Ashton Ray, an influencer with 1.7 million followers on the platform.
In the clip shared to Ray’s account, the pair pose together for a photo, captioned “finally meeting my twin,” a nod to how similar they look.
After the photo, Smith walks away, and some viewers interpreted his body language as low-energy or uninterested.
That led to a wave of comments from people who felt Smith came across as distant or standoffish during the moment.
Reacting on social media, one person wrote: “He was nottttt in the mood,” while another added: “He did NOTTTT wanna take that picture.”
A third echoed the criticism, commenting: “Oh he does NOT want to be there.”
Someone else summed it up more bluntly: “why he so mean.”
However, not everyone saw the interaction the same way, with others arguing that Smith didn’t appear rude at all.
One viewer suggested he was simply being reserved, saying: “am I the only one who’s not seeing the attitude, he’s just being cool nothing more than that.”
Another agreed, writing: “No one in the comments can read a vibe. He was not mad or rude. He was serving.”
And a third person didn’t understand the outrage, adding: “Am I the only one who doesn’t see anything wrong wit this LMFAO.”
Smith isn’t the only celebrity to face scrutiny at Coachella this year.
Headliner Sabrina Carpenter has also drawn criticism over a moment involving a zaghrouta, a traditional high-pitched Arabic vocalization, heard from someone in the crowd.
One person wrote: “Sabrina Carpenter mocking a zaghrouta as ‘yodeling’ after being educated on its culture is so nasty. Being uncultured and proud is actually a disease. The mean girl act isn’t cute anymore; it’s just xenophobic. She’s done.”
Still, others defended the singer, arguing her reaction was aimed at the timing rather than the cultural expression itself. One person wrote: “She doesn’t call the zaghrouta weird, she says it’s weird that someone would do it in the middle of her show and then try to have a convo mid song.”
The ‘Man Child’ singer later posted an apology on X, writing: “My apologies, I didn’t see this person with my eyes and couldn’t hear clearly,” she wrote on X on April 12, two days after the clip began to circulate online.
“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.”
Representatives for Jaden Smith have been contacted for comment.