She's working late, 'cause she's a singer — but this bit seems to have backfired out of nowhere!
Everyone expected Sabrina Carpenter to take a backseat this year, given the whirlwind, crazy 365 she's had since birthing the Espresso epidemic. But she's coming back. Not just with a Summer single, but a full-fledged album — Man's Best Friend.
She shared the news on her socials, by sharing what appears to be the cover art for the album. It features Sabrina, on all fours, holding onto a man's leg as he holds a chunk of her blonde locks almost like a leash. Yeah. And fans...aren't feeling it one bit.
Perplexed comments read: "lol this cover art is so disgusting. as a fan I don’t like it :(", " its not a very empowering image for women. i think its a mistake since most her fans are women and as a dv survivor i find it uncomfortable", "Sabrina this is not the slay you think it is… :/", "Does anybody else find this cover really disturbing?", "Girl, please, stand up. 😬", "in this political climate is crazy", "This cover art ain’t it sis", "People can't still act like she's for the female gaze" and "Is this a humiliation ritual? WTH is this cover" to quote a few.
{{/usCountry}}Perplexed comments read: "lol this cover art is so disgusting. as a fan I don’t like it :(", " its not a very empowering image for women. i think its a mistake since most her fans are women and as a dv survivor i find it uncomfortable", "Sabrina this is not the slay you think it is… :/", "Does anybody else find this cover really disturbing?", "Girl, please, stand up. 😬", "in this political climate is crazy", "This cover art ain’t it sis", "People can't still act like she's for the female gaze" and "Is this a humiliation ritual? WTH is this cover" to quote a few.
{{/usCountry}}"Explain to me again how this isn’t centering men? How this isn’t catering to the male gaze?" asked another agitated fan — and honestly, the derivations are more than valid. But there might be a little something to take note of here. Late last week, Sabrina dropped her first Summer 2025 single, Manchild, complete with a whimsical, fever dream-esque indie-western music video which debuted 24 hours later.
The Carpenter army trained their ears to love the song, and if you give it an honest shot, Manchild totally has the screaming-at-the-top-of-your-lungs-while-on-a-road-trip potential. But, it's nowhere close to being the still beating earworm of the decade that was her breakout track from last Summer — you already know it — Espresso.
Now the core of Manchild is very evidently satirical, very literally treading male-bashing territory, but with a load-a love. So maybe, just MAYBE, the rest of Man's Best Friend, may also rip through the same territory. And in that case, this cover art, WILL be ironic.
Either way, we'll only know come August.
Man's Best Friend.
Out on August 29, 2025.