When Sabrina Carpenter sang “Nobody’s Son” on Saturday Night Live on Oct. 18, she dropped the f-bomb twice, but one complaint she received about the performance had nothing to do with her language.
Rina Sawayama, 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.
Rina’s complaint came from the fact that there were tatami mats on the floor of the karate “studio” and the guys doing the karate moves in the background were all wearing footwear. In Japanese culture, one never wears any kind of footwear on a tatami mat.
Rina posted a screenshot of one of the men in an Instagram Story 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.”
She then added, “Shoes on tatami is jail,” followed by a laughing/crying emoji.
Sabrina, who hosted SNL in addition to serving as musical guest, posted a series of photos of her experience and wrote on Instagram, “SNL double duty was the least I’ve slept in my life and the best reason to ever not sleep thank you Lorne [Michaels], the amazing cast, crew, and writers for taking me in with open arms.”
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