Sabrina Carpenter has sparked backlash from some fans after a moment during her Coachella set that many interpreted as dismissive of a cultural vocal tradition.
Coachella kicked off on April 10, drawing huge crowds for the first day of performances. But instead of a smooth opening-night headline, Carpenter’s show quickly became a talking point online due to an interaction with someone in the audience.
The 26-year-old artist—known for tracks like House Tour, Please, Please, Please, and When Did You Get Hot—was performing on her ‘Sabrinawood’ stage when she paused at the piano after noticing a distinct sound coming from the crowd.
“I think I heard someone yodel.”
She then appeared to locate the person making the noise and asked:
“Is that what you’re doing?”
According to the clip shared online, the audience member tried to explain that the sound was connected to her “culture,” to which Carpenter responded:
“I don’t like it.”
She continued:
“That’s your culture, yodeling? Is this Burning Man [festival] what’s going on? This is weird.”
The exchange prompted strong reactions on social media, with some arguing the sound may have been Arabic ululation (often referred to as “zaghroot”), rather than yodeling. One user on X wrote: “Sabrina Carpenter is so ignorant, someone was doing a zaghroot (an arab cheer), and she called it yodelling and disrespectfully dismissed the fact that it was a part of the person’s culture, saying ‘she doesn’t like it.'”
Another person posted: “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.”
Others noted the sound could potentially resemble practices found in multiple traditions, including Alpine yodeling, various Indigenous celebratory calls, or other cultural expressions used to cheer and mark moments of excitement.
One commenter suggested it sounded similar to a South African celebration call.
Several people also focused less on the initial confusion and more on the reaction after the audience member described it as cultural. One post read: “It’s completely understandable to be unfamiliar with certain traditions but doubling down after LITERALLY being informed that it’s a cultural practice is soso weird lmfao and thats why her music will always be unexceptional.”
Another user added: “Btw its also called ‘ululation’ and can be found in African & Arab countries/cultures.”
At the same time, some defended Carpenter and argued the moment was being taken out of context. One Redditor said: “I am Middle Eastern, I didn’t take offense, she didn’t understand and thought they were heckling her… yes she didn’t understand when they told her it’s cultural either because why would she? A Caucasian American who I’m assuming is not aware about the types of celebrations around the world.”
Another 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.”