Please, please, please – tell us if Sabrina Carpenter just shaded Mariah Carey?!
Because that’s what it looks like to us!
Now, just because Sabrina Carpenter’s music included some of this summer’s hottest songs doesn’t mean that she’s going into hibernation when the season’s change.
This winter, she’ll be hosting a variety music special on Netflix. A holiday special, no less.
But in promoting A Nonsense Christmas With Sabrina Carpenter, she’s seemingly threw a little shade at one of the biggest stars of all time. You probably know her best as the Queen of Christmas…
Netflix picked Sabrina Carpenter as their holiday headliner
On December 6, Netflix will air the holiday variety music special, A Nonsense Christmas With Sabrina Carpenter.
We know that the special will feature “unexpected duets and comedic guests.”
In addition to the undisclosed guests, Sabrina will perform some of her own music.
Sabrina Carpenter has a holiday EP, Fruitcake. While not as long as one of her full albums, this collection of music should be much more appetizing than the EP’s namesake.
She will also be performing Christmas season classics. Netflix may be billing this as a “holiday” variety special, but though there are numerous holidays over the next few months, the title really sounds like it’s about one in particular.
“The holidays have always been so special to me,” Sabrina Carpenter expressed in a statement. “I am excited to bring my take to a classic holiday variety show — infusing my love of music and comedy to make something that is uniquely me.”
So where does the shade towards Mariah Carey come in?
As you can see in the Netflix teaser for Sabrina Carpenter’s special, the video clearly shades Mariah Carey — or, at least, refers to her.
The image evokes Mariah Carey’s classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” outfit. It is essentially a fakeout, surprising people with Sabrina Carpenter.
This could blow up at Sabrina Carpenter (however unfairly) or at Netflix itself. But most people likely won’t resent the homage.
For years, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas I You” has been a harbinger of the entire holiday season. And we do mean holiday season — no matter what holidays you may celebrate between Halloween and New Year’s Day, Mariah Carey’s music will play.
Mariah did something almost unthinkable: she created a holiday classic in the modern era. A lot of Christmas songs are so old that they have either appalling values or cultural references that need explaining. “All I Want For Christmas Is You” came out in 1994.
Obviously, other music stars have come out with catchy Christmas tunes. But even if I personally enjoy Lady Gaga’s “Christmas Tree” and Guther & The Sunshine Girls’ “Christmas Song,” we can all acknowledge that Mariah’s bop is on a whole other level.
Did Netflix miss the mark?
Anytime that someone seemingly shades Mariah Carey, whether it’s Sabrina Carpenter or someone else, they run the risk of it blowing up in their faces. Mariah has weathered real scandals and exercised poor judgment at times, but many people love and adore her. (Also, sometimes her judgment isn’t so bad)
We don’t think that Netflix or Sabrina Carpenter meant Mariah Carey any disrespect. If anything, this is a nod to Mariah effectively owning a couple of months out of the year.
We hope that Mariah enjoys the flattery. And also the royalty checks as her song streams across the globe in a couple of months.