Rina Sawayama Calls Out Cultural Insensitivity in Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘SNL’ Performance
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Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama has publicly addressed what she perceived as cultural insensitivity during Sabrina Carpenter’s recent hosting and musical performance on Saturday Night Live. Sawayama took to Instagram on Sunday to express her concerns regarding a specific element of Carpenter’s performance of her song “nobody’s Son.”
Carpenter, 26, appeared on the latest episode of the long-running NBC sketch series, performing both “Manchild” and “Nobody’s Son” from her newest album, Man’s Best Friend. The performance of “Nobody’s Son” featured Carpenter and her dancers in karate gis, with two backup dancers sparring and dancing on mats while wearing sneakers.
“Big love to Sabrina,” Sawayama,35,wrote in an Instagram Story accompanying a clip of the performance. “But fellow artists’ creative teams… if we are clearly referencing a culture please can you do so with the research, respect and care it deserves,” she continued, adding the pointed observation, “shoes on tatami is jail.”
In Japanese culture, wearing outdoor shoes – or even indoor slippers – on tatami mats is considered deeply disrespectful. This cultural nuance appears to be the source of sawayama’s critique.
The Self-reliant has reached out to both SNL and a representative for Carpenter for comment.
Sawayama has a history of speaking out against cultural appropriation and insensitivity within the entertainment industry. In 2023, she publicly challenged Matty Healy, frontman of The 1975, during her Glastonbury set, referencing his past controversial remarks. “Tonight, this goes out to a white man that watches Ghetto Gaggers, and mocks Asian people on a podcast,” she stated to the crowd, also referencing his control over her master recordings. “He also owns my masters… I’ve had enough.”
Beyond the cultural critique, Carpenter also generated discussion with an uncensored performance of “Nobody’s Son” during the live broadcast. The former disney star sang the lyric “he sure f***ed me up” twice before the expletive was censored for the West Coast airing and the version uploaded to the show’s YouTube channel.
The bold lyrical choice elicited a mixed response from viewers.”The first one, I was like, ‘Did I just hear what I think I did? Surely not.’ Then the second one, I was like Oh! I mean, it is past 1 AM ET, but still, you don’t expect that on #SNL,” one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter). another simply commented, “Oops potty mouth.” A more critical viewer threatened to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) demanding an apology by Tuesday at 5 p.m.EST.
Carpenter acknowledged the performance in a Monday Instagram post, writing, “SNL double duty was the least I’ve slept in my life and the best reason to ever not sleep … thank you Lorne, the amazing cast, crew, and writers for taking me in with open arms.”
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