Sabrina Carpenter has hit back at backlash over the cover of her forthcoming album, Man’s Best Friend.
Newsweek reached out to Carpenter’s representative via email for comment on Tuesday.
The Context
Carpenter, 26, began her career on the Disney Channel, where she starred in shows like Girl Meets World, Phineas and Ferb and Austin and Ally. She released several records via Disney’s Hollywood Records before signing with her label, Island, where she had “full artistic control,” per The New York Times.
The two-time Grammy Award winner was Taylor Swift’s supporting act during many of her Eras Tour shows, and some of her hits include: “Nonsense,” “Please Please Please,” and “Espresso.”
What To Know
On June 11, @esotericsoul777 reshared a post from @PopCulture2000s via X, formerly Twitter, of Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend cover.
“Does she have a personality outside of sex?” @esotericsoul777 wrote.
On Monday, Carpenter replied: “girl yes and it is goooooood.”
At the time of publication, her response racked up more than 4.9 million views, 160,000 likes and over 3,000 comments.
girl yes and it is goooooood https://t.co/HTWLxVKJAL
— Sabrina Carpenter (@SabrinaAnnLynn) June 16, 2025
The pop star announced her album alongside its cover on June 11, and it quickly sparked some debate. The art in question shows Carpenter on her hands and knees. She appears to be touching a man’s leg as he holds a strand of her hair.
“The concept of being a man-hater yet making your album cover a pic of you getting on your knees for a man while he grips your hair in a degrading manner is so odd,” X user @tamaescence wrote in a comment with 27.9 million views and 381,000 likes.
“Women face horrific domestic abuse and degradation at the hands of men every single day worldwide, but she wants to profit off of imagery of herself being degraded, comparing herself to a dog,” @talkabtducks shared in a message with 2 million views and 48,000 likes. “Pandering to men will never be feminist, i don’t care if the lyrics say ‘f*** men.’”
X user @qsdfghjklm9876 added in a note with 5.1 million views and 115,000 likes that “this is not feminism and this is not empowering” and called the cover “derogatory.”
Others, however, defended Carpenter. “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,”@wickednewshub said in a remark with 2.2 million views and 19,000 likes.
“Manchild,” the lead single off Man’s Best Friend which was released on June 5, has hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
“i had a funny response but I’m just gonna say thank you
What People Are Saying
Fans of Carpenter praised the singer in the comments underneath her X response to @esotericsoul777.
@brookeab wrote in a reply with 50,200 views and 503 likes: “tell em girl.”
@tinihappinesss said in a comment with 21,400 views and 1,400 likes: “she is the most sweetest angel princess ever.”
@recklsstargirl added in a post with 3,600 views and 46 likes: “she gets on twitter only to clock people, this is my idol.”
What Happens Next
Man’s Best Friend is set to be released on August 29.
The post Sabrina Carpenter Addresses Criticism Over New Album Cover appeared first on Newsweek.
