Sabrina Carpenter is offering her fans a new option. The Espresso singer revealed an alternate cover for her upcoming album, Man’s Best Friend. The black-and-white image shows Carpenter resting her head on the shoulder of a man in a suit, with other men blurred in the background.
It’s a stark contrast to the original cover, which featured her on all fours while a man in a suit pulled her hair, an image many found provocative and degrading. A viral post questioned whether Carpenter’s persona was “only about sex,” suggesting she lacked depth beyond her risqué image.
Carpenter wasn’t having it – her response was sharp, cheeky, and unmistakably deliberate. She said it’s those very same critics who keep making her sex-themed work go viral. “Clearly you love sex,” she said in the interview.
“Approved by God”
The original cover, shot by Bryce Anderson, sparked intense debate. While some criticized it as objectifying, others defended it as a bold statement on power dynamics, or, as one viral comment put it, “Let women be horny.”
Sabrina Carpenter hasn’t directly addressed the backlash, but she acknowledged it with a wink in her announcement of the new version, also photographed by Anderson. “Here is a new alternate cover approved by God,” she wrote.
She’s also offering a limited edition black-and-white vinyl featuring the updated artwork, available through her website.
Lolita Controversy
Carpenter also faced backlash over accusations that her W Magazine photoshoot drew inspiration from the controversial film Lolita.
A TikTok user sparked the conversation by posting a side-by-side comparison: one image showed Carpenter barefoot on a lawn in a yellow, water-soaked Chloé dress, made nearly sheer by sprinklers, her wet hair clinging to her face, placed next to a visually similar still from the 1997 adaptation of Lolita.
Carpenter responded directly in the comments, writing, “I’ve never seen this movie. It’s never been on my mood board and never would be.”
Man’s Best Friend is due out on August 29.
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