Sabrina Carpenter Reacts to Coachella Chant, Says “Now I Know What a Zaghrouta Is”

Sabrina Carpenter has spoken out about the online reactions to her response to a loud, high pitched cheer from the audience during her Coachella set on Friday night April 10.

The singer did not initially realize that the sound was a Zaghrouta, a trilling vocal expression used across different cultures as a form of celebration and joy. Some fans may remember Shakira using a similar sound during her 2020 Super Bowl halftime performance while playfully sticking out her tongue before singing “Hips Don’t Lie,” as a nod to her Middle Eastern heritage.

During the Coachella livestream and in clips that quickly spread online from her performance in Indio, California, the Man’s Best Friend artist was seen seated at the piano looking confused when she heard the sound, and was heard saying, “I don’t like it.”

When a fan in the audience shouted, “It’s my culture!” Carpenter replied, “That’s your culture, yodeling?” before adding, “Is this Burning Man? What’s going on? This is weird.”

The following day, Carpenter addressed the moment and clarified her comments.

“my apologies i didn’t see this person with my eyes and couldn’t hear clearly,” Carpenter wrote in response to a post on X that criticized her reaction as “insensitive and Islamophobic.”

She continued, “my reaction was pure confusion, sarcasm and not ill intended.”

“could have handled it better!” she added. “now i know what a Zaghrouta is! I welcome all cheers and yodels from here on out.”

A Zaghrouta is commonly performed by women in parts of the Middle East and North Africa as a way to express excitement and celebration. As described by the educational platform Arab America, it is best understood in English as “ululation,” a long, wavering, high pitched vocal sound created through rapid tongue movement.

Carpenter headlined the first night of Coachella 2026’s opening weekend on Friday. The major slot came just two years after her first appearance at the festival, when she famously told the crowd, “Coachella, see you back here when I headline” during an improvised outro to her song “Nonsense.” Since then, she has released two Billboard 200 chart topping albums, 2024’s Short n’ Sweet and 2025’s Man’s Best Friend.