“My reaction was pure confusion, sarcasm and not ill intended. Could have handled it better!”
Sabrina Carpenter has issued an apology after mistaking Zaghrouta, a celebratory Arabic chant, for a yodel during her headlining Coachella set.
In a viral clip from Friday night’s (April 10) performance, an audience member can be making a high-pitched cheer she struggled to hear clearly over the crowd. “I think I heard someone yodel,” she said from the stage while she sat behind a piano. “Is that what you’re doing? I don’t like it.”
Zaghrouta is a trilling vocal sound that indicates celebration, and the festivalgoer responded by shouting to tell the ‘House Tour’ singer: “It’s my culture.” Carpenter, still unclear on what it was, playfully responded, “That’s your culture, is yodeling?” The audience member added, “It’s a call of celebration.”
“Is this Burning Man? What’s going on? This is weird,” Carpenter replied. The interaction sparked backlash for Carpenter, who last night (April 11) directly replied to an X post that wrote, “sabrina saying that she doesn’t like a cultural arabic cheer… this is so insensitive and islamophobic. i am very disappointed in her.”
“My apologies i didn’t see this person with my eyes and couldn’t hear clearly,” she wrote. “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.”
Sabrina Carpenter apologizes for her reaction to the Arabic Zaghrouta cheer she heard from the crowd at Coachella:
“my reaction was pure confusion, sarcasm and not ill intended. could have handled it better!” pic.twitter.com/rZEGJduCqJ
— Pop Base (@PopBase) April 11, 2026
Carpneter served as the first headliner of the 2026 festival, delivering a star-studded set that invoked the spirit of Hollywood, with special guest appearances from Sam Elliott, Susan Sarandon and Will Ferrell.
Having promised fans her “most ambitious show” yet, the standout visuals of the set included the additon of men dressed as dogs, a moment she invited the the crowd to light up their flashlights and illuminate the stage, and rounding off her set elevated above the crowd as water rained down.
Next week, Carpenter will deliver her second Coachella headlining performance on Friday (April 17). You can check out the set times for Coachella weekend one here, along with details on how to watch the festival online.
NME last caught Carpenter live when she headlined BST Hyde Park in London last summer. The glowing five-star review read: “[‘Espresso’ has] catapulted the singer from an artist orbiting the pop girl league tables to one of its reigning champs, but her command of this space is a testament to the years of graft it took to get there. All she needed was time.”
In other news, Carpenter performed ‘Manchild’ live at the Grammys in February. She was nominated for six awards at this year’s ceremony, but did not take home any prizes on the night.
