Ariana Grande did not need a speech, a tweet, or a dramatic callout to make fans notice.
All it took was one Instagram like.
Carrie’s performance at the inauguration became one of the biggest topics of discussion that day, so Ariana liked a post that was teasing Carrie about her a cappella rendition. The action was subtle and quiet, but was immediately noticed by fans.
The Instagram Like That Has Ariana Grande and Carrie Underwood Fans Arguing
Carrie sang “America the Beautiful” at President Donald Trump’s 2025 swearing-in ceremony, but it was an odd turn of events because she didn’t have the music track she had been trained on. Carrie sang a cappella and invited the audience to join along. Subsequently, writer Evan Ross Katz posted a joke on Instagram using a picture of Kamala Harris watching Carrie perform, stating a famous line from RuPaul’s Drag Race, namely: “You’re just looking for the note.”
One of the accounts that liked the post was Ariana Grande.
Stop for a second. Ariana wasn’t the author of the joke. She didn’t tag Carrie! She didn’t vent publicly.
She just liked an Instagram post, and that was a subtle form of response from fans. Small gestures are like secret messages to social media–savvy fans. A follow can turn into celebrity Morse code.
Ariana’s liking added to the significance, as she had previously endorsed Kamala Harris in the election. It doesn’t necessarily mean that she was mocking Carrie, but it is why fans interpreted it that way.
The Complete Video of Carrie Underwood Singing America the Beautiful After Audio Glitch
Carrie had a technical challenge and was still able to finish the performance. She was faultless in her professionalism, performing a cappella and delivering a live vocal recovery from an awkward moment, which many viewers praised her for. But from that perspective, it might seem unfair to mock the performance, because the issue wasn’t Carrie forgetting how to sing. She had simply lost her “props.”
Do not say Ariana and Carrie are feuding. A liked post is not a feud. Ariana’s like made fans believe she was shading Carrie, but neither artist publicly escalated the moment.
The question is not whether Ariana Grande’s like was small.
It was. The question is whether a tiny tap on Instagram said more about the cultural divide around Carrie’s performance than any official statement could have.