Sabrina Carpenter’s next musical chapter is stirring strong reactions — and not all of them are positive.
On June 11, the Grammy-winning pop star announced her upcoming album Man’s Best Friend on social media, revealing both its title and August 29 release date. The announcement follows the release of her new single “Manchild,” which dropped earlier this month.
“My new album, Man’s Best Friend 🐾 is out on August 29, 2025,” Carpenter, 26, wrote in the caption. “I can’t wait for it to be yours x.”
Accompanying the post was what appears to be the album’s cover art. The image shows Carpenter on all fours, dressed in a black dress and heels, with an unidentified person pulling her hair. The provocative pose quickly drew widespread attention online, igniting a wave of praise, critique, and debate in the comments.
Man’s Best Friend is Carpenter’s seventh studio album and follows the massive success of her 2024 breakthrough, Short n’ Sweet. That record topped the Billboard 200 and featured several hit singles including “Espresso,” “Please Please Please,” “Taste,” and “Bed Chem.” It also cemented Carpenter’s increasingly bold and playful persona, rooted in a modern pin-up aesthetic.
The rollout for the new era began with “Manchild,” a synth-pop track released on June 5. Its music video featured Carpenter in a white button-down shirt, sky-blue heels, and ultra-short denim cutoffs — a look that further fed into the buzz around her evolving image.
But it’s the Man’s Best Friend album cover that’s sparked the most heated discourse. On Instagram, some fans criticized the image as tone-deaf, particularly in the current sociopolitical climate.
“Love you, Sabrina, but in this political climate with Trump as president and women’s control over their bodies being taken away in the US… this is kind of insensitive,” one user commented. Another wrote, “This just set us back about five decades.” Others expressed similar concerns, questioning the message behind the visual.
Still, many fans came to her defense or celebrated the artistic risk. “SUMMER OF SABRINA FOR A SECOND YEAR IN A ROW,” one user wrote enthusiastically. Another added, “Sabrina is coming for album of the year, artist of the year, pop vocal album, all of it — and I’m here for it.”
Some online reactions took a more analytical approach. On X (formerly Twitter), one user argued that the cover was not meant to be taken literally but rather as satire. “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,” the post read.
Carpenter has long incorporated themes of sexuality and empowerment into her work. Her previous album featured songs like “Juno,” which playfully explores a desire for intimacy and motherhood. During her live shows, the song’s performance — including a cheeky moment miming a sexual position — drew both applause and criticism, with some fans calling it empowering and others labeling it as catering to a male audience.
This tension speaks to a broader cultural conversation about how women express their sexuality in public life. Leora Tanenbaum, author of Sexy Selfie Nation: Standing Up For Yourself in Today’s Toxic, Sexist Culture, previously told USA TODAY that much of the discourse reflects a “false dichotomy.”
“People ask if she’s trying to appeal to the ‘male gaze’ — appearing hot to cater to hetero men’s sexual desires — or to the ‘female gaze’ — looking sexy on her own terms to make a point about women’s confidence and sex-positivity,” Tanenbaum explained.
In a time of shifting attitudes around female sexual agency, artists like Carpenter often find themselves at the center of heated debates.
“Carpenter’s lyrics are sexually explicit and may not be appropriate for the Disney audience of children she used to cater to,” Tanenbaum added, “but her sexual frankness is shocking in this day and age only if you believe that women who are open about sexuality are sluts.”
Whether seen as bold art or boundary-pushing controversy, Man’s Best Friend is already proving to be one of the most talked-about pop releases of the year.
— Contributing reporting by Michael Motha, Foxton News
