Sabrina Carpenter defends her image after X-rated album cover faces major backlash

Sabrina Carpenter has defended her raunchy image and song content amid backlash over her new album cover, Man's Best Friend.

Ever since she burst into the mainstream with hit single 'Espresso', the former Disney star hasn't shied away from the NSFW aspects of her music and performances.

After all, the 26-year-old has weathered receiving dozens of Ofcom complaints for her 'Bed Chem' performance at the BRIT Awards and regularly went viral for the sex positions she acts out while singing 'Juno' live.

Looking to capitalise off of the popularity from her Short 'n' Sweet album, the singer announced follow-up record Man's Best Friend, which will be released on 29 August, 2025.

However Carpenter's explicit choice in album artwork has decisively overshadowed all talk about the album and new single 'Manchild'.

The cover image shows the singer on all fours and holding a hand up positioned in-front of an anonymous man, who is holding a clump of her hair.

Coupled with the fact that the album's title is a nickname for a dog and you can see why it's divided so many people.

"The cover? This is weird and you can’t convince me otherwise…" said one person in response to the announcement on X, while a second added: "Gonna be that person and say she’s not beating the 'catering to the male gaze' allegations."

"Oooo 1980s gross sexist advertising culture vibe. How unoriginal," commented a third.

The cover was even slammed by Glasgow Women's Aid, who noted how the image supposedly plays into the idea that women are 'pets, props, and possessions'.

"Picturing herself on all fours, with a man pulling her hair and calling it “Man’s Best Friend” isn’t subversion," they said in a statement.

"Sabrina is pandering to the male gaze and promoting misogynistic stereotypes, which is ironic given the majority of her fans are young women"

However, Carpenter has since defended her raunchy image in a new interview with Rolling Stone, saying 'those are the songs that you’ve made popular'.

"It’s always so funny to me when people complain," she said. "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."

She continued: "It’s in my show. There’s so many more moments than the ‘Juno’ positions, but those are the ones you post every night and comment on."

However, not everyone has slammed the artwork, with several fans defending the singer's right as an adult woman to express herself as she wishes, while others have noted the entire thing is great marketing for her album.

"Just a reminder that sabrina carpenter is 26 years old and can do whatever she wants with her body and i’m here for her making the prudes mad," wrote one person online.

Meanwhile others have even gone as far as saying Carpenter's career is solely catered to the 'male gaze' is itself misogynistic.

"The backlash about that sabrina carpenter album cover is dumb as hell, it's obvious from the album title and its lead single that the main theme is about how men treat woman like animals," added another fan, while others have compared the backlash to Lana Del Rey's 2020 'Question for the Culture' Instagram essay, which the singer shared in response to allegations suggesting her music 'glamourised abuse'.