Row erupts after Sabrina Carpenter interacts with fan during debut Coachella set
Sabrina Carpenter has triggered a social media row after responding to a fan who interrupted her debut Coachella set.
Listen to this article
The Espresso singer was in the middle of her first-ever set at the US festival when she became distracted by a noise in the crowd and took time to acknowledge it.
“I think I heard someone yodeling,” Carpenter said in a video later uploaded to X.
The crowd laughed before the sound was heard again, leading Carpenter to follow up with: “Is that what you’re doing?”
Someone from the crowd could be heard replying: “It’s Arab! It’s an Arab call.”
“I don’t like it,” Carpenter hit back.
The fan then responded with: “It’s my culture!”
Read more: US entry requirements for Brits ahead of Coachella and Masters
I’m in a complete shock. I used to be a huge sabrina carpenter fan and now she’s mocking my culture and calling me “weird”, this is so racist and inappropriate and it made me feel uncomfortable. this white blonde racist woman should be cancelled. pic.twitter.com/8jG9IoFwzo
— Kevin (@maxlldr) April 11, 2026
This exchange carried on as Carpenter sat at the piano as he she tried to listen to the fan’s ongoing explanation.“It’s a call! A call of celebration,” the fan yelled.“Is this Burning Man? What’s going on? This is weird,” Carpenter replied before carrying on with her set. Video of the bizarre interaction has gone viral online, sparking a tense debate over how the star handled the incident.
One user hit out: “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.”
Another wrote: Did Sabrina Carpenter just call that girl’s culture weird and creepy?” someone else questioned while another wondered, “why would she even say this like.. just unnecessary and rude.”
But others have leapt to Carpenter’s defence.
“She clearly could not hear the girl speaking. You have to remember she’s all the way up on stage. We can hear the audience much better. She just heard some girl yodeling and yelling about how it’s her culture like it’s not that serious,“ one user wrote.
“It is weird obnoxious and loud while she’s trying to perform I don’t see the issue with what she said,” replied another.