Many of you must have enjoyed Sabrina Carpenter’s cameo with Coldplay at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2024. But she surprised many people when she added a cheeky NSFW pun to the acronym ‘BBC’ during her performance. The On My Way singer was performing her song “Nonsense” live when she made the pun during the track’s outro. And boy, did it split the internet quickly into two camps! Check it out below!
We know that acronyms often have multiple meanings, and Carpenter took advantage of this. Her lyrics included lines like, “BBC said I should keep it PG/BBC I wish I had it in me.” And “There’s a double meaning if you dig deep.” Subsequently, some fans found the gesture offensive and felt it had racial connotations and was hyper-sexualizing Black men. Meanwhile, others thought it was just fine.
As a result, netizens from both sides took to social media platform X/Twitter to slam or defend her. One user commented, “A white woman shouldn’t make racial jokes that contribute to the fetishization of black men. Sorry, not sorry.” They added it was even worse because her actual boyfriend is very white himself. Furthermore, another found The Work It actress’ joke corny and creepy.
They wrote, “She’s used this BBC thing before, too; she’s so unoriginal.” The third person emphasized, “Using the term “BBC” in a s*xual context does fetishize Black men.” They believed it was very weird for white people to use that term. “It’s just not cute imo. Y’all can stop that anytime, please, and thank you, Imao.” Despite the slamming, many fans stepped up to defend the Espresso hitmaker, claiming that her joke was just a playful pun.
Her admirers highlighted that this wasn’t the first time she made the ‘BBC’ joke. And get this: the 25-year-old singer used a similar pun in a 2023 BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Session performance. The altered lyrics from Nonsense read, “I’m American, I am not British / So BBC, it stands for something different.” Earlier this week, Coldplay invited Sabrina onstage the same day for a performance.
The British rock band is a staple of BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend Festival. Together, they performed “Magic” with visuals of a man in a hat struggling to hold on to a woman. The band introduced Carpenter while performing “Fix You,” slipping in an “Espresso” reference. Anyway, what’s your take on this whole BBC story? Drop your thoughts below. Stay tuned to Soap Opera Daily for more Sabrina Carpenter updates!