Sabrina Carpenter recently came under fire after mocking a crowd member’s ululation during a Coachella performance.
Carpenter repeatedly called the traditional Arabic and North African vocalization “weird,” despite being told of its significance by the attendee.
“Is that what you’re doing? I don’t like it,” Carpenter asked on stage. “That’s your culture, yodeling? It’s a call, it’s a call of celebration. Is this Burning Man? What’s going on? This is weird.”
@kiwolared She’s weird #fyp #coachella #sabrinacarpenter
♬ original sound – kiwola._
As the video of the exchange circulated online, it quickly drew criticism, with many pointing out that the singer’s repeated dismissals after learning the cultural significance of the vocalization were the main problem with her actions.
“I love Sabrina, but I’m also Arab,” one social media user wrote. “Nobody is saying that she needs to know everything about every culture, but she continued to ignore the culture comment even after she was given a full explanation. ‘It’s my culture’ should be enough.”
Other users took a different approach, acknowledging that the live situation could have caused some misunderstandings, but still expressing their disapproval of Carpenter’s behavior during the event. “I don’t think there was any malintent on her part,” one social media user wrote. “But she should have at least followed up the culture comment with an ‘Oh, okay.'”
Some Arab social media users also rejected the calls to boycott Sabrina Carpenter, pointing out that ignorance of the culture was the reason behind the mistake. “She clearly has never heard a zaghrouta before,” one of them wrote. “Did she really need to say ‘weird’? No, but I’m Arab, and it isn’t that deep.”
Carpenter has not made any public comments about the incident.
