Joe Keery 'arrested' on stage by Sabrina Carpenter during ACL Fest 2025 performance
Photo: Reuters
Actor and musician Joe Keery, best known for his role as Steve Harrington on Stranger Things and his musical persona Djo, became part of singer Sabrina Carpenter’s viral “cuffing season” routine during her Austin City Limits (ACL) Festival 2025 performance on October 4.
Sabrina Carpenter arresting DJO (Joe Keery) for ‘Juno’ at Austin City Limits.pic.twitter.com/05ekz2UQgq
The playful incident occurred just before Carpenter’s song “Juno.” As seen in a fan-recorded video shared on X (formerly Twitter), Carpenter invited Keery onstage and asked for his name and hometown. When Keery responded “Boston,” Carpenter teased that it “sounds a lot like Austin” before declaring, “Joe, it’s actually cuffing season. I don’t know if you know that.”
Keery then jokingly raised his wrists, prompting Carpenter to handcuff him with her signature pink fluffy cuffs. Laughing, she said, “You seem very eager actually. This is so rare. You’re the one. We did it, Joe.”
Carpenter first introduced the “cuffing season” bit during her Short n’ Sweet Tour in 2024, “arresting” various celebrity guests before performing “Juno.” Previous participants have included Millie Bobby Brown, Ayo Edebiri, and TWICE members Jihyo, Momo, and Sana, making Keery the latest star to join the lighthearted tradition.
The ACL crowd received an additional surprise when Carpenter brought out Shania Twain for a duet of Twain’s 1998 hit “That Don’t Impress Me Much.”
Following the performance, fans noticed that Carpenter and Keery had begun following each other on Instagram, sparking playful speculation online about a possible connection between the two artists.
Clips of the moment quickly went viral, with fans celebrating the unexpected crossover between Stranger Things and the pop star’s stage antics — solidifying Carpenter’s ACL set as one of the weekend’s standout performances.