Singer calls out Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘SNL’ performance for being culturally insensitive

<figure><img src=”https://s3.amazonaws.com/syndication.abcaudio.com/files/2025-10-20/M_SabrinaCarpenterNobodysSonSNL_102025.jpg” alt=””><figcaption>Sabrina Carpenter performs on 'Saturday Night Live,' October, 2025 (Will Heath/NBC</figcaption></figure><p>When <strong>Sabrina Carpenter</strong> sang “Nobody’s Son” on <em>Saturday Night Live</em> on Oct. 18, she dropped the f-bomb twice, but one complaint she received about the performance had nothing to do with her language.</p><p><strong>Rina Sawayama</strong>, a Japanese-British singer and songwriter, took issue with the fact that the performance was set in a martial arts studio, with men sparring behind Sabrina as she sang the song while wearing a dress seemingly modeled after a traditional karate uniform, known as a “gi,” and a black belt.</p><p>Rina’s complaint came from the fact that there were <a href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatami” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>tatami mats</a> on the floor of the karate “studio” and the guys doing the karate moves in the background were all wearing footwear.&nbsp;In Japanese culture, one never wears any kind of footwear on a tatami mat.</p><p>Rina posted a screenshot of one of&nbsp;the men in an&nbsp;<a href=”https://www.instagram.com/rinasonline/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Instagram Story</a>&nbsp;and wrote, “Big love to Sabrina 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.”</p><p>She then added, “Shoes on tatami is jail,” followed by a laughing/crying emoji.&nbsp;</p><p>Sabrina, who hosted <em>SNL</em> in addition to serving as musical guest, posted a series of photos of her experience and <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/DQCRkP9DYLj/?img_index=1″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>wrote on Instagram</a>, “SNL double duty was the least I’ve slept in my life and the best reason to ever not sleep thank you <strong>Lorne </strong>[<strong>Michaels</strong>], the amazing cast, crew, and writers for taking me in with open arms.”</p><div class=”raw-html-embed”><iframe width=”640″ height=”360″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/E4M2qjkZxj4″ title=”Sabrina Carpenter: Nobody’s Son (Live) – SNL” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe></div><p>Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.</p>