Sabrina Carpenter blamed a generational double standard for the backlash she received over her “Man’s Best Friend” album cover.
Carpenter opened up about her new music and the controversial album cover after the Aug. 29 release. The pop star called out one generation for continuously getting offended by her, at times, overtly sexual lyrics.
“There is a generation that gets offended by some of the things I do, and it’s a generation that has either young children … or they’ve raised children, and they’re just sort of looking at it from a different point in their life – sort of scolding,” Carpenter said during an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music. “And they all had sex – many times – because they popped a lot of kids out. So, I just think about that, and I’m always just like it’s so funny. I mean we’re all, we’re just so judgmental.”
“I’m not allowed to have sex, but you are?” Carpenter questioned.
SABRINA CARPENTER SHARES NEW ALBUM COVER ‘APPROVED BY GOD’ AFTER BACKLASH OVER RACY IMAGE
Carpenter announced her album on June 11. The album cover, which was shared on Instagram, was immediately met with harsh criticism as many fans labeled the photograph of the singer on all fours with a man pulling her hair as suggestive.
“Am I the only one who thinks this is dehumanizing for women?” one user wrote. Another added, “This cover makes me uncomfortable… especially in times like these. Absolutely tone deaf.”
“This isn’t satire, this is not empowering to women. You’ve missed the mark by so much hun,” another user wrote.
SABRINA CARPENTER DEFENDS HER RACY IMAGE, TELLS CRITICS THEY ‘NEED TO GET OUT MORE’
Carpenter finally revealed the vision behind the controversial cover art after releasing the entire album on Aug. 29.
“It’s like so funny thinking about it now, because I wanted a man playing with my hair,” the 26-year-old explained to Lowe. “I actually used maybe five different men to take that photo because none of them could play with my hair. They were all pulling it. Like they’re all like nervous to be holding my hair and so, the grip looked like they were like yanking it.”
“And the whole purpose of the photo was supposed to be cheeky and airy and playful like, you know, I got myself here. Here I am,” she continued. “Like this is someone I love but also someone that you know emotionally can be doing a lot with my heart and doing a lot with emotions.”
“There was only one shot that was shot on film that had that lighting the way that I wanted it with this facial expression where I’m clearly, you know, in control, even though I’m on all fours. And to me, it was just perfect.”
Carpenter showed her friends and family the album cover before releasing it to the world and claimed there were no wild reactions from her inner circle.
“There was no shift in the universe,” Carpenter confirmed to Lowe. “It was a very normal day. So, when it came out, that was just my initial thing was to sort of be like, ‘Well, then this is, I guess, why putting out something without having the context is always tricky.'”
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The “Manchild” singer admitted she’s been fascinated with the public reaction to the album cover – which she didn’t anticipate.
“If I’m being completely transparent, I don’t do anything anticipating what the reaction will be,” she told Interview magazine. “I only do things that speak to me, that feel right, and make sense when you hear the music. When I came up with the imaging for it, it was so clear to me what it meant. So the reaction is fascinating to me. You just watch it unravel and go, ‘Wow.’”
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The internet has also seemingly misinterpreted some of Carpenter’s lyrics on the album, which features storytelling about the singer-songwriter’s own breakup experience.
“My experience and point of view are going to be so different from how other people live their lives,” she allowed. “Sometimes I read things, and I’m like, ‘Wow, I don’t experience this that way, but if they do, then that’s real to them.’”
“But what I’m going through in this record, which is loss and heartbreak and celebration and trying to navigate my life as a young woman – it’s not so much like I’m above it all, but I’m not beneath it, either,” Carpenter added.
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Carpenter is no stranger to outrage over her lyrics. She recently opened up about the discourse over songs, which often include sexual innuendos. On tour, Carpenter performed various sex positions during her song “Juno.” The moments often went viral, prompting complaints online.
Her latest album included a few hits with similar innuendos. New songs like “House Tour” and “Tears” have caught the eye of fans.
“I mean, there’s a lot of nuance to this, and I’m not naive to that, but I felt like, ‘Why is this taboo?’ This is something that women experience in such a real way, becoming comfortable with themselves and who they are,” Carpenter told Interview about her choice to write about the touchy topic. “There’s so many reasons why I called it ‘Man’s Best Friend’ and there’s so many layers in the experiences that I was going through at the time where, emotionally, I felt like one.”
“I’m really, really grateful that there’s enough of my audience that really knows me as a person that will be able to hear these songs how they’re intended. It’s always going to be up to interpretation and I understand that. But I’m glad you like my sexual content.”
