Katy Perry pokes fun at Justin Bieber’s YouTube-driven Coachella set: ‘Thank God he has premium’

INDIO, CALIFORNIA: Katy Perry was one of the many stars spotted in the crowd during Justin Bieber’s headlining Coachella 2026 show. The pop star attended the music festival with her beau, former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, and cheered on Bieber as he performed a nearly 90-minute set. 

The ‘Roar’ hitmaker later took to Instagram to share glimpses of Bieber’s show, throwing a playful jab directed towards his YouTube-fuelled mid-set performance.

Katy Perry’s cheeky jab towards Justin Bieber’s Coachella set 

After Bieber’s Coachella headlining show, Perry shared a carousel post on Instagram, highlighting moments from his performance. The post, captioned using “heat checkin’ these chickens” lyrics from Bieber’s song ‘Speed Demon,’ featured videos from the Coachella set. 

One of the clips showed Bieber performing ‘With You,’ while another captured Perry and Trudeau vibing together to ‘Speed Demon.’ In one such video, Perry could be seen poking fun at Bieber as he scrolled through YouTube onstage to select the biggest hits from his older discography before performing a medley of his throwback tracks. 

“Thank God he has (YouTube) premium,” Perry could be heard jokingly saying in the clip, adding, “I don’t want to see no ads.” 

The ‘Dark Horse’ singer also added a throwback picture of Bieber in her post, and offered a peek into some of her love-filled moments with Trudeau from Coachella weekend one.

Justin Bieber’s Coachella set earns mixed reactions

Bieber made history as the highest-paid artist to ever headline Coachella, with a whopping $10 million fee. However, his highly-anticipated performance left fans divided. 

While some showed immense love for his YouTube-driven speedrun through throwback hits, others were left disappointed over the inclusion of lesser-known songs from ‘Swag’ and ‘Swag II’ in his setlist. 

The pop icon began his Coachella set with songs like ‘All I Can Take,’ ‘Speed Demon,’ ‘First Place,’ ‘Go Baby,’ ‘Butterflies’ and ‘Walking Away.’ Nearly 30-minutes into the show, he performed ‘Stay’ with The Kid LAROI as a guest. 

He continued to sing songs like ‘Things You Do,’ ‘Glory Voice Memo,’ ‘Zuma House,’ ‘Dotted Line,’ and ‘Everything Hallelujah,’ before starting a medley of his throwback songs.

Bieber sat atop a tool with a MacBook in his hand and began searching for his older hits on YouTube. He then played the videos of earlier hits like ‘Baby,’ ‘Favorite Girl,’ ‘Never Say Never,’ ‘Beauty and a Beat,’ and ‘That Should Be Me,’ and sang along the tracks.

Some fans were left emotional over the nostalgic set, but many felt that Bieber’s performance was underwhelming, especially considering he earned an alleged $10 million paycheck for the show. 

Despite the criticism, Bieber received ample support from his wife, Hailey Bieber, and his A-list friends. In addition to Perry and Trudeau, celebrities like Adele, Kylie Jenner, Timothee Chalamet, Kendall Jenner, Jacob Elordi, Kim Kardashian, Lewis Hamilton, Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK members Lisa and Rose, Jaden Smith, Teyana Taylor, Damson Idris and several others were in the crowd to attend the headlining show.