The Best of Sabrina Carpenter’s Onstage Arrests

Carpenter could only perform in so many countries on the Short n’ Sweet tour, so Genovians had to travel abroad to see her — and that includes royalty. Mia Thermopolis, a.k.a. Anne Hathaway, attended Carpenter’s first of five nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Oct. 26. “Anne, can I arrest you for being the most perfect princess in the world?” she asked her. Hathaway was ecstatic, jumping up and down as the fuzzy pink handcuffs were handed to her. A great bit would be for Hathaway to show up to another Carpenter show, this time as Runway assistant Andrea Sachs. Florals for spring? Groundbreaking. —A.M.

On Nov. 4, Nicole Kidman texted her teenage daughter, Sunday Rose. “Hi baby, I’m heading down to be arrested,” she said. But the only handcuffs Kidman got were pink fuzzy ones at the Short n’ Sweet stop in Nashville, where Sabrina Carpenter called out the actress in the audience. “We come to this arena for magic, right?” she said, nodding to Kidman’s famous AMC ad (and also Practical Magic, we here at Rolling Stone would like to think). “Oh, my goodness, speaking of magic. I expected to find love, but not my soulmate. What is your name?” She then made a reference to Kidman’s 2024 kink drama. “You’re so — oh, babygirl, I don’t know what to do!” All that’s missing? A frosty glass of milk. —A.M.

While playing London this spring album, Carpenter got a visit from royalty. Emma Bunton a.k.a. Baby Spice of the Spice Girls was in the audience and got gleefully arrested by Carpenter during the show. “You’re kind of spicing up my life a little bit,” Carpenter told Bunton from the stage. “Emma, would you please do me the honors of being mine forever?” – B.S.

Last October, Saturday Night Live’s Marcello Hernandez went viral for his role as Domingo in the cheeky sketch that plays with Carpenter’s “Espresso” (with some assistance from that week’s host Ariana Grande). A month later, Hernandez was arrested as Domingo at night two of the star’s Los Angeles shows. After Carpenter asked Hernandez if he had anything he wanted to say before he was arrested, the comedian reprised his rendition of “Espresso” from the sketch, in character and this time dedicated to Carpenter: “Came all this way / Had to explain / Direct from Domingo / Sabrina’s a friend / She’s like my sis / But I would hook up though.” – B.S.

Salma Hayek admits that she had a fun time getting handcuffed by Sabrina Carpenter in London back in March. However, she had a little trouble later on. “Afterwards, my daughter put it on and we couldn’t get them off,” the Mexican actress later told Jimmy Fallon of of her daughter Valentina. “I had to go to school and we couldn’t get them off. But eventually, we started smacking on things and she liberated herself from the handcuffs.” —T.M.

Performing in her home state of Pennsylvania on Oct. 23, Carpenter scanned the crowd at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena and spotted model Gigi Hadid. “Gigi, wow, where are you from?” she said. Hadid replied that she’s from Bucks County, just like Carpenter. “Wow, maybe we are soulmates!” she told her. As with every show, Carpenter’s outfit proceeded to fall to the ground, revealing a mini skirt. ““Gigi, I’m getting so hot and flustered. I feel like — oh my God, shit! That always happens when I get excited about love.” —A.M.

Carpenter loves a double entendre, not just in her music. During the second night of Carpenter’s two shows at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum last November, she arrested her producer, Jack Antonoff. “This is super awkward,” she told him. “I’m so confident you can produce someone even hotter than you.” His wife, actress Margaret Qualley, then walked up. “Now that, ladies and gentlemen, this is a hottie with substance,” Carpenter said, in a nod to Qualley’s role in The Substance. “Whoever made you, God bless them. God bless their genetics.” She continued to flirt with Qualley, as her sparkly clothes dropped to the floor: “I think that Margaret and Sabrina are good names to be in a relationship together. Oh my God, my clothes just fell off, I was thinking about us!” —A.M.

Wait, are they at the right concert? During one of Sabrina Carpenter’s sold-out shows at Hyde Park in London over the summer, the singer arrested Ayo Edebiri and Clairo, who started doing the “Apple” dance instead of playing along with the bit. “So it’s close, that’s just a different show,” Carpenter told the actress and the singer. “Ayo, I’m feeling you so hard,” Sabrina said before going: “Sorry about the Clairo shade, I’m kidding. Claire, I love you too.” —T.M.

She’s going to need a few more handcuffs if she wants the whole group next time. While headlining Lollapalooza over the summer, Sabrina Carpenter arrested K-pop group TWICE’s Momo, Jihyo, and Sana, who were also performing at the festival that weekend. “Damn, we have some beautiful people in this audience tonight, but there are three girls I can’t take my eyes off of,” Carpenter said as cameras showed the TWICE members on screens. “I was gonna say, ’cause I had to look not once, but twice.” —T.M.

Corey Fogelmanis and Carpenter go way back — the two of them starred on the Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World in the mid-2010s. They ended up having a mini reunion during one of Carpenter’s New York City shows this October, when she scanned the crowd for just the right person to arrest. “I think I just found him,” she said once she landed on Fogelmanis. “Oh shit, we got to arrest him. He’s so pretty…I’m obsessed.” The two of them bantered back and forth for a bit before Carpenter nodded to his more recent role on My Life With The Walter Boys: “Will you be my ‘Juno’ boy just for one night?” – J.L.

Gasp, he fainted! During one Carpenter’s shows in Phoenix, she spotted her tour opener Declan McKenna in the crowd for her “Juno” arrest. “My celebrity crush is Declan McKenna so that’s so crazy that you look just like him,” Carpenter joked onstage. After handing him the fuzzy pink handcuffs, McKenna pretended to fall back and pass out of excitement. —T.M.

During her second week at Austin City Limits, Carpenter arrested Olivia Dean. Carpenter made a reference to one of Dean’s breakout singles from this year: “Olivia, I don’t have a lot of good pick-up lines but could I be the man you need?” The appearance came shortly before Dean launched her stint as one of Carpenter’s opening acts.  – B.S.

In October of 2024, actress and Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown received the fuzzy pink handcuffs from Carpenter. “Millie, you know, I’ve never fallen in love at a concert before,” Carpenter said. “But stranger things have happened.” A few months after the arrest, Brown revealed to Vanity Fair she had messaged Carpenter begging to be part of that moment.  – B.S.

This October, both Carpenter and Djo (Stranger Things’ star Joe Keery’s musical project) played at Austin City Limits. Keery ended up being Carpenter’s arrest during her show the night before his gig. As her skirt dropped, she pointed out to Keery and told him that it was cuffing season. Keery, in return, eagerly presented his wrists for the fuzzy handcuffs to lock up. “You’re the one,” Carpenter joked. “We did it, Joe.” The chemistry was so steamy that their fans kicked off dating rumors about the pair of stars. – B.S.