Sabrina Carpenter called out by PETA over Grammys performance

It's been three days since this year's star-studded Grammy Awards came to a close, but critics are still harping on about Sabrina Carpenter.

More specifically, it's representatives of the animal charity PETA that have raised a serious grievance with the 'Espresso' hit-maker, as well as organisers of the wider ceremony.

For those who missed it, 26-year-old Carpenter was just one of the many musicians to perform live at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday (1 Feb), alongside the likes of Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Lola Young, Olivia Dean, Pharrell Williams, Justin Bieber, Tyla the Creator and Ms Lauryn Hill.

The Pennsylvania star was also nominated for a staggering six awards this year, including 'Song of The Year', 'Best Music Video' and 'Best Solo Pop Performance', all for her country-esque, bubblegum pop, satirical banger 'Manchild'.

The song includes knee-slapping lyrics that take aim at a 'stupid', 'slow', 'useless' and 'incompetent' former flame - her most recent ex Barry Keoghan, possibly? Who knows?

Carpenter performed said chart-topper during the show, donning a white corset-style bodysuit with plunging neckline, knee-high lace-up boots and a matching pilot's cap.

Whilst many fans of the show applauded the elaborate airport-themed performance, a number of onlookers were horrified to see Carpenter release a white dove into the arena, which had been handed to her by a magician-style character.

Amongst those against the inclusion of the bird, were staff at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

Using the musician's own lyrics against her, the charity took to X (formerly Twitter), where they shared an image of her, captioned: "Hey Sabrina, bringing a live bird onto the Grammys stage is stupid, slow, useless... and cruel!

"Bright lights, loud noise, and handling cause fear and distress for a bird who belongs flying free in the open sky."

Spokespeople for the charity also wrote in a separate message: "Did @SabrinaAnnLynn really just bring a bird on stage in 2026?! The Manchild singer is giving childlike behaviour. Leave animals out of the #GRAMMYs!"

PETA staff are far from the only viewers to have spoken out against Carpenter's performance.

Another X user hit out: "Using animals for human entertainment is not it!! Imagine how stressed the poor baby must’ve been with all that noise & chaos. Animals are not toys and props."

A third added: "Love her and this song but super angry to see this just now in that performance- that poor little bird was very obviously scared...

"Seriously in 2026 WTF??!"

"I think we can stop subjecting animals to being part of live performances like this," a fourth went on. "That bird looked pretty stressed and it being there didn't add to the performance.

"What's the point?"

Another also pointed out: "I love Sabrina but jeez she could have easily bought a fake one - poor thing is so stressed."

Tyla contacted Carpenter's representatives for comment.