‘Is this Burning Man?’ Sabrina Carpenter backlash explained
Sabrina Carpenter has gone viral online for her Coachella performance. But not all the discussions were about her costume, set, or even her singing. The pop star’s facing backlash over a comment she made about a cultural practice, and the internet is divided on the issue.
“Is that what you’re doing?” Sabrina Carpenter asked before starting one of her sets. A fan was making a sound, which is apparently a zaghrouta. “I don’t like it,” Carpenter said when the fan owned up to the sound.
“It’s my culture!” The audience member said. “That’s your culture? It’s yodeling?” Carpenter mistook. “It’s a call of celebration,” the audience member in the crowd clarified. Carpenter, who appeared to be struggling to understand, was visibly contorting her face. “Is this Burning Man? What’s going on? This is weird,” Carpenter remarked, referencing another American festival.
Her particular reaction to the niche cultural mannerism for celebration stoked the ire of the internet. Currently, the video is being taken down for copyright, but many social media users have been reposting the clip and reacting to it anyway.
Racism or genuine ignorance?
One X user speculated, “Her team is currently wiping every possible trace of this video, she knows she’s wrong yet refuses to apologize… let’s give her a couple days to see what she comes up with.”
Another social media user accused Carpenter, “THEY’RE TRYING TO DELETE THE FOOTAGE OF HER BEING A RACIST BUT I WONT STOP POSTING.” None of Carpenter’s full sets have been uploaded by Coachella yet. However, the controversial clip’s consistent takedown has gotten some social media spectators riled up.
Since the backlash, Sabrina Carpenter has immediately issued an apology. She wrote on X about the incident, “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.”
Although she seems to have meant no harm, Carpenter’s reaction has been central to the internet discourse. A zaghrouta is an ululation often expressed during joyous occasions by people from Middle Eastern and North African cultures. Not everyone knows what this practice is or what it’s meant to express. As one internet user puts it, “You’re acting like Sabrina was handed a well-cited essay on stage.”
Essentially, it’s important to extend grace to people who may not come from a different culture—who don’t necessarily mean to offend. It doesn’t mean that people won’t be offended anyway, especially with how Carpenter responded on stage.
A better way to connect
She didn’t have to like it, but perhaps the best, media-trained response would have been to brush the practice off and continued performing anyway. Concerts are meant to be loud, and crowds couldn’t contain their excitement over their favorite acts.
But another X user brought up Korean pop artist G-Dragon, who also encountered a zaghrouta in one of his concerts. But unlike Carpenter, G-Dragon found a way to relate to the audience. “This sounds like me,” he said in the viral clip. He added, “Is it a bird?”
The bird comment could have easily become offensive if he stopped there. But instead of brushing it aside, G-Dragon asked the crowd to pipe down so he could actually hear the fan who was chanting. He expressed curiosity and did his best to connect with his fans, while Carpenter called the expression “weird.”
Artists aren’t expected to know everything, and G-Dragon’s reaction to the situation is definitely stellar. But even if artists don’t emulate G-Dragon, they should always approach encounters with fans with grace and respect as a bare minimum—even in the face of ignorance.
(featured image: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Coachella)
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