Sabrina Carpenter has revealed the album cover for Man’s Best Friend, her much-anticipated follow-up to 2024’s Short n’ Sweet, and it has been divisive to say the least.
The cover, which shows Carpenter on her hands and knees with a man holding her hair, has caused infighting even among the singer’s own fans.
The comments of Carpenter’s Instagram post unveiling the cover are littered with disapproval, with one of the top comments saying: “Does anybody else find this cover really disturbing?” Another commenter added: “Explain to me again how this isn’t centering men? How this isn’t catering to the male gaze?”
Meanwhile, Glasgow Women’s Aid, a domestic abuse charity, has called the album cover “regressive”. Posting on Facebook, the charity wrote: “Sabrina Carpenter’s new album cover isn’t edgy, it’s regressive.
“Picturing herself on all fours, with a man pulling her hair and calling it ‘Man’s Best Friend’ isn’t subversion. It’s a throwback to tired tropes that reduce women to pets, props, and possessions and promote an element of violence and control.
“We’ve fought too hard for this. We get Sabrina’s brand is packaged up retro glam but we really don’t need to go back to the tired stereotypes of women. Sabrina is pandering to the male gaze and promoting misogynistic stereotypes, which is ironic given the majority of her fans are young women!”
Some of Sabrina’s Instagram followers have uttered similar opinions, with one commenter saying: “Love Sabrina — but this picture — why is the man in there like that? It’s not a very empowering image for women. I think it’s a mistake since most of her fans are women and as a DV [domestic violence] survivor I find it uncomfortable and I’d rather see her empowered than like that. Idk [I don’t know] I don’t wanna be negative, I’m sorry, maybe it’s just me.”
Fans have been quick to point to women’s position in the current political and social climate as their reason for being upset. Others have referenced porn stars like Bonnie Blue, who recently announced her plan to take part in a human “petting zoo”, where she would be tied up in a glass box and allow men to do “whatever they want to her”. These plans have since been reportedly cancelled and The Sun claims that Blue has had her OnlyFans account suspended.
:( https://t.co/bif66VDdYb pic.twitter.com/oa7zj1zvg1
— Meg👺 (@antrobus_megan) June 11, 2025
However, other fans of Sabrina Carpenter are arguing that this is clearly part of Carpenter’s tongue-in-cheek, hyper-sexualised persona. “Women get treated like f***ing dogs and she’s very obviously being satirical about it, and her first single was called MANCHILD about HATING MEN,” wrote one X user. “Like f*** automatically assuming she’s being misogynistic instead of literally ANYTHING else is actually insane to me.”
Many believe that Carpenter is in on the joke, rather than being disempowered. “It’s a double meaning showing how men try and control her and treat her like a ‘bitch’ which is another word for female dogs, like it’s not hard to grasp the concept at all if you think for five seconds,” said another X user.
sabrina has spent the past 5 years being slutshamed and sexualized nonstop and y'all really think the album cover isn't a direct reflection of how men treat her (and all women really) like a bitch meant to kneel at their feet
— ashley 🐾 (@betubrina) June 11, 2025
In a message to fans where she announced the album, the singer wrote: “My new album Man’s Best Friend releases Aug 29 I didn’t plan on releasing a new record however when inspiration strikes, I go to the studio, and when it doesn’t, I still go to the studio.
“But luckily life was really happening to me and inspiration struck!
“I tried not to overthink the process this time, I felt so at ease making Man’s Best Friend that I felt like it was a gift that shouldn’t be taken for granted as every inch came together so effortlessly, different from my other previous projects where I’d bang my head to crack numerous codes.
“This one felt like riding a bike! I went back to some of my favourite artists growing up listening to a lot of Stevie, Dolly, Donna etc and was surprised to find so many of those artists I loved put out a new record every year for a long time.
“Can’t say that is or will be the norm for me but this time it really eased my mind about putting something out when it feels right!”
