Why Sabrina Carpenter's fans are threatening to boycott her UK gigs

They're not happy

Sabrina Carpenter walks the runway during Vogue World: Paris at Place Vendome on June 23, 2024 in Paris, France
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sabrina Carpenter is trending on the website formerly known as Twitter, and it's unfortunately not for the right reasons.

On Tuesday, the presale opened for fans of the American popstar to purchase UK (and European) tickets to Sab's upcoming Short n' Sweet tour, with general sale opening this coming Friday.

But as eager fans braved the long Ticketmaster queues to secure their place at the UK shows in 2025, they were shocked by the asking prices for the arena tour, and many decided to opt out of purchasing the overly expensive tickets. (Despite this, presale tickets still went like hot cakes and many fans who weren't put off the prices were still not able to buy theirs.)

One of fans' main grievances is that prices for Sabrina's gigs are in some cases higher than those for major artists such as Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, and even Taylor Swift — even for much worse seats.

People shared strong feelings about the situation on X, with one fan writing: "Just overpriced platinum nosebleeds left for sabrina carpenter. I'm officially at war with ticketmaster. Why was this harder than taylor swift"

Another said: "SORRY I had every intention of getting Sabrina Carpenter tickets today on o2 priority but the cost is WILD why are they hundreds of pounds????? She’s new ish???!???"

And another wrote: "happy international self-care day for all those who suffered the sabrina carpenter ticketmaster presale"

One man told BBC News that he and his wife were trying to get tickets to see Sabrina for their 11-year-old daughter, and had a nightmare with it.

"My wife was in the pre-sale queues on the Ticketmaster, Hydro and Sabrina Carpenter’s website and the cheapest tickets were £220 each," Neil Hutton told the outlet.

"The jump in ticket prices in recent years has been astronomical."

One fan told The Scottish Sun: "Folk need to start boycotting gigs over ticket prices. £221-£350 per head for us to take our daughter to see Sabrina Carpenter in Glasgow is absolutely outrageous. No thanks."

Sabrina is performing on Birmingham on 6 March, in London on 8 March, in Glasgow on 11 March, and in Manchester on 13 March. Within Europe, she'll also perform in Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, and Amsterdam.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.