Sabrina Carpenter’s barista shift marks the latest celebrity ‘customer service cosplay’

She’s working late, ‘cause she’s a s̶i̶n̶g̶e̶r̶ *barista.

Sabrina Carpenter pulled a shift as a barista on Monday at a London coffee shop to promote her hit single “Espresso.” The stunt marks the latest attempt from a celebrity to cosplay as a customer service employee in an effort to connect with fans.

Some see the schtick as cute, but critics call it pandering and out of touch with modern-day labor issues and low wages.

Carpenter — who was born and raised in Quakertown — surprised fans at Blank Street Coffee, where she handed customers drinks and greeted them from behind the counter. The relatability stopped there for some, as the 25-year-old was dressed in head-to-toe Fendi.

The promotion comes ahead of her highly anticipated upcoming album, Short n’ Sweet, which will drop in August. Her two singles, “Espresso” and “Please, Please, Please,” coupled with festival appearances at Gov Ball and Coachella have played a role in the singer’s seismic success.

But reactions to the coffee shop takeover have been mixed.

“[It’s] the worst gimmick a celebrity can possibly do,” said one X (formerly Twitter) user whose post was liked more than 280,000 times. “So cute and wholesome when a celebrity cosplays a minimum wage worker as a publicity stunt then goes back to living a life of ultimate privilege,” said another.

An additional user called the stunt “gimmicky and patronizing.”

“This is always weird,” added another who said Blank Street should have pitched a collaboration drink instead. It’s worth noting Carpenter currently has a collaboration ice cream flavor with Van Leeuwen that launches next week.

Still, Carpenter isn’t the first and won’t be the last of the celebrities to larp as a food or customer service employee.

Before her came Prince William at a food truck, Ed Sheeran slinging cheesesteaks in Philly, Lana Del Rey at an Alabama Waffle House, David Letterman at a Hy-Vee supermarket in Iowa, and influencer Charli D’Amelio posing as a Walmart cashier.

The appearances typically are an attempt to generate PR for whatever project they’re currently working on, as noted by author Sam Stone for Bon Appetit. In Prince William’s case, it was his foundation’s Earthshot Prize. Sheeran was on tour. Del Rey had a new album coming out with references to Florence, Ala. And the appearances keep happening because fans seem to love them.

“To be fair her song is literally called ‘Espresso,’ like this makes sense,” one X user wrote. “See I’m not usually a fan of celebrities cosplaying service jobs for a day but she literally has the song of the summer and it’s called ‘Espresso’ … We will allow it,” said another. And those fans aren’t alone.

During Sheeran’s Philly visit, a gleeful woman called the singer’s cheesesteak attempt “perfect.” That’s because meeting a celebrity, especially in a sort of everyday setting, can be humanizing and exciting.

But it’s also not real.

“In an industry and time in which most servers are overworked and underpaid, though, it’s a decidedly uncute look to try out a little bit of hourly labor as a treat,” Stone wrote. “The quirky stunt falls flat when I square it with the reality that celebrities will never actually get the real experience of working at these places.”

Stone added, “If Prince William really wants to grab the attention of normies, he should take a shift at an Applebee’s on a Friday night. He should feel the crushing shame when the 24-year-old training him rolls his eyes after William asks a question about what part of the animal the riblets come from. I want him to get snapped at by some woman because he forgot her breadsticks. In fact, I demand it.”