Sza swatted down a rumor on April 10 that she had been hired to stand by as a backup for Justin Bieber at Coachella 2026 if he failed to make his set. The singer replied under an Instagram post claiming she would fill in for Bieber at his April 11 and April 18 performances, writing, “Lmao who made this up?”
She followed with a sharper denial: “I’ve seen this 4 times now. I’m in New York no one paid me a dime. Wishing everyone the best.” The post she was responding to claimed Sza had been “allegedly paid six figures to stay Coachella-ready in case Justin Bieber droppoff,” a rumor that spread quickly as fans tracked the festival lineup.
The speculation landed at a moment when Bieber is one of the festival’s biggest draws, headlining Coachella alongside Sabrina Carpenter and Karol G. It also tapped into a real bit of crossover history between the two artists: Sza and Bieber previously teamed on an acoustic version of her 2022 hit “Snooze.”
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Bieber has also been feeding the Coachella conversation himself. Last October, he said on a Twitch livestream that he was going to do “the whole, both [SWAG] projects, probably,” and said Coachella was a “safe space” for him, adding that “it soothes the soul.” That made the rumor stickier, even as Sza made clear she was nowhere near the desert and had not been paid to wait on call.
The contrast was hard to miss. While Sza was in New York dismissing the claim, the buildup around Bieber’s set kept growing in the desert, helped by Kylie Jenner’s Justin Bieber-themed arrivals. Jenner wore an oversized tank top with Bieber’s face ahead of his performance and later showed off a floral manicure nodding to his 2025 single “Daisies,” posting, “It’s giving Bieberchella.”
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Fans may still hope Sza turns up as a surprise during Bieber’s set, but her own words left little room for that scenario. The rumor was online noise, not a booking.
