- Sabrina Carpenter has apologised after mistaking a fan's Zaghrouta, an Arabic celebration call, for yodelling during her Coachella set this weekend, cracking a joke about it on stage.
- "My reaction was pure confusion, sarcasm and not ill intended," Carpenter posted to X, following the incident. "Could have handled it better! Now I know what a Zaghrouta is! I welcome all cheers and yodels from here on out."
- Sabrina Carpenter was the Friday night headliner at the popular festival, with Justin Bieber performing on Saturday night and Karol G on Sunday.
Sabrina Carpenter continues to make headlines. And from her role in Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl album to her surprisingly A-list family, the Nonsense singer has been front and centre this year.
It was the 26-year-old's performance at Coachella that got the world talking recently, with Carpenter headlining the California music festival over the weekend.
During her Friday night set, Carpenter mistook a female fan's Arabic celebration call for yodelling, cracking a joke about it on stage, with the interaction causing controversy online.
A Zaghrouta is a traditional high-pitched trilling sound, used as an Arabic celebration call by women to express joy and honour people.
However, while on stage, the Espresso singer mistook it for yodelling, telling the audience: "I think I heard someone yodel. Is that what you’re doing? I don’t like it."
"It’s my culture!" the fan shouted back, to which Carpenter responded: "That’s your culture, is yodelling?"
"It’s a call of celebration," the fan continued, with Carpenter joking: "Is this Burning Man? What’s going on? This is weird."
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 https://t.co/f3KuT8sggHApril 11, 2026
The incident went viral over the weekend. And with footage shared online, some fans took to social media to criticise the singer's "insensitive" reaction.
"Im very disappointed and heartbroken," one social media user wrote in a comment. "You must respect other people's cultures," another added.
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Carpenter weighed in on the situation over the weekend, responding to the backlash in a social media statement.
"My apologies, I didn’t see this person with my eyes and couldn’t hear clearly," the Please Please Please singer posted to X. "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."
We will continue to update this story.
