More than a month after Sabrina Carpenter was criticized for going pantless at the Met Gala, the pop star is catching strays from social media users again.
The uproar began Wednesday after Carpenter, 26, revealed the title and release date for her forthcoming seventh studio project album, “Man’s Best Friend” in an Instagram post.
Carpenter showed off an image of what appears to be the album’s cover art, which featured a photo of the singer dressed in a short black dress and high heels. Carpenter is seen kneeling down on the ground in front of an unidentified person as they grab the star by her hair as she stares enticingly into the camera.
“My new album, ‘Man’s Best Friend’ 🐾 is out on August 29, 2025,” Carpenter captioned the post. “I can’t wait for it to be yours x.”
The Grammy-winning musician’s risqué cover art set off an eruption of discourse among social media users in the comments section, with many people expressing disappointment over Carpenter’s post.
“This cover makes me uncomfortable…especially in times like these,” one user wrote while seemingly alluding to Trump’s second presidency term. “Absolutely tone deaf.”
Another user questioned, “Why is the man in there like that? It’s not a very empowering image for women.”
“I feel like that photo is so degrading to women. I adore Sabrina, but this is just too much,” someone else added.
“Girl you just set feminism back another 20 years [crying emoji],” a separate user claimed.
Other users defended the “Espresso” artist.
“You cannot judge anyone on their sexuality if [Sabrina] wants to be on a leash let her be on a leash,” one person wrote. “She is not singing gospel music.”
Meanwhile on X, formerly Twitter, someone else argued that the cover is “clearly satirical.”
“I’m seeing a lot of discourse about Sabrina Carpenter’s new album cover… for those of you who may lack critical thinking skills, the cover is clearly satirical with a deeper meaning, portraying how the public views her, believing she is just for the male gaze,” the user wrote.
In her new cover story for Rolling Stone, Carpenter addressed the scrutiny she’s faced for some of her sexually charged performances amid her Short n’ Sweet tour, which wraps up in November.
“It’s always so funny to me when people complain,” she told the outlet in the interview published Thursday. “They’re like, ‘All she does is sing about this.’ But those are the songs that you’ve made popular. Clearly you love sex. You’re obsessed with it. It’s in my show.”
Carpenter added: “I don’t want to be pessimistic, but I truly feel like I’ve never lived in a time where women have been picked apart more, and scrutinized in every capacity. I’m not just talking about me. I’m talking about every female artist that is making art right now.”
Read the full article here
