Sabrina Carpenteris one of today’s most popular and mesmerizing artists. Her latest album,Short n Sweet, has produced some of today’s most streamed songs, such as ‘Espresso’, ‘Bed Chem’, and ‘Please, Please, Please’. Recently, the star released a brand-new single titled “Manchild.” The teaser trailer, which was released on June 3, featured Carpenter in a revealing outfit as she tries to hitch a ride alongside a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Later, the superstar announced her new albumMan’s Best Friendbut was met with significant backlash over its explicit cover. This latest development is part of a long line of criticism she has received for her recent raunchy on- and off-stage behavior. And now, following months of criticism, Carpenter is firing back at her detractors.
Sabrina Carpenter Responds to Recent Backlash Over Album Cover Art
Sabrina Carpenter’s music has long captivated listeners with its infectious melodies and catchy lyrics. However, her music and on-stage persona has often pushed the boundaries of what’s deemed socially appropriate and has often been met with heated discourse and criticism.
Her latest single and music video, which premiered on June 5, is titled “Manchild.” The three-minute, thirty-three track is off her highly anticipated seventh studio album, titledMan’s Best Friend, to be released on August 29. The lyrics are stinging, with Carpenter singing about an immature man who lacks self-awareness against the backdrop of a pop-country melody. Fans on social media and critics, such asCosmopolitan magazine, have speculatedthat the song is about Carpenter’s ex-boyfriend, Barry Keoghan. However,in a recent interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Carpenter remained coy as usual about her song’s subject matter and answered cheekily that it was “About Your Dad”. But what’s drawing the most attention isn’t Carpenter’s song but rather the cover art for its accompanying album. In the picture, Sabrina is seen kneeling on the floor as a man grabs her hair.The cover has elicited a lot of backlash on social media, with some condemning the 26-year-old pop superstar as being over-se*ualized and setting back feminism, among other things.
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One publication,The London Evening Standard, wrote a scathing reviewofthe album’s cover and featured a story about a domestic ab*se charity in London that had branded the cover as regressive towards women’s rights.One critic on Carpenter’s Instagram page wrote, “I love Sabrina, but this cover doesn’t sit right with me; you can express sexuality without objectification, and the hair grab just reeks of patriarchy and male control. This kind of exploitation sets women back decades.” However,there have been a few fans who have defended Carpenter,such as one user who responded on Instagram, “The amount of people not comprehending satire is hilarious, good for her, all of these media illiterates are not her target audience anyway.”
Even though Carpenter has those who have defended her, the criticism has far outweighed the positive;the pop star has used her voice to speak out against her many detractors. In an interview with Rolling Stone,Carpenter addressed not only the backlash over the album cover,but also the salacious lyrics of her latest single, ‘Manchild.'“It’s always so funny to me when people complain. They’re like, ‘All she does is sing about this.’ But those are the songs that you’ve made popular,” she told the outlet. “Clearly you love s*x. You’re obsessed with it.”
Sabrina Carpenter’s Past Comments Over Her Public Image Resurface Amid Backlash
While Sabrina Carpenter deals with the backlash her latest single and album cover are getting,a look back into her prolific career reveals that the star has released somewhat conflicting statements about the image she portrays. For example, in 2019, Carpenter starred in the filmThe Short History of the Long Road, which tells the story of a daughter and her father as they travel to the US in search of her mother.During an interview with Nylonabout her role in the film, Carpenter gave a rather surprising answer about her character:“It was really refreshing to read a story about a young girl my age that wasn’t over-se*ualized.” The then 20-star added that, like the character, “I think people have a lot of preconceived notions of who I am, what I am, what I should be, what I shouldn’t be.”
Fast-forward five years, and the star offered a different perspective on sexuality and her persona.In a 2024 interview with Time magazine,Carpenter defended her raunchy concerts, stage presence, and lyricsagainst haters. “To that I just say, don’t come to the show and that’s OK,” she stated. “It’s unfortunate that it’s ever been something to criticize, because truthfully, the scariest thing in the world is getting up on a stage in front of that many people and having to perform as if it’s nothing.” She added, “If the one thing that helps you do that is the way you feel comfortable dressing, then that’s what you’ve got to do."
