Sabrina Carpenter sparks controversy with album cover

Updated June 13, 2025, 9:55 a.m. | By Music Reporter

The singer announced the title and release date of her next album with a picture that has fans divided.

Sabrina Carpenter wearing a sparkly jacket with her name on it — Sabrina Carpenter/ Instagram (@sabrinacarpenter)

The cover art for Sabrina Carpenter's new album is causing a stir online.

This week, the 'Espresso' hitmaker shared new details about her upcoming music project on social media.

"My new album, 'Man’s Best Friend' 🐾 is out on August 29, 2025. I can’t wait for it to be yours," she wrote.

Fans were excited to finally know the title and release date of Carpenter's highly anticipated album. However, the album's cover has sparked controversy.

It shows the singer on all fours, while a man, whose face can not be seen, holds her hair up like a dog leash. She is wearing a black mini dress and high heels.

Dogs are commonly known as man's best friend, but it seems Carpenter is switching up the meaning.

"Love, Sabrina - but this picture - why is the man in there like that? Its not a very empowering image for women," one fan commented.

"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 dont wanna be negative, I'm sorry, maybe it's just me."

Another fan commented, "This cover art is so disgusting. As a fan I don’t like it :(."

A third wrote: "Is this a humiliation ritual? WTH is this cover?"

Not everyone was offended by the provocative image. "This cover ate," one woman said.

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A post shared by Sabrina Carpenter (@sabrinacarpenter)

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Carpenter's album announcement comes a week after she dropped her new single, 'Manchild'.

Fans were quick to assume the song was about her ex-boyfriend, actor Barry Keoghan.

'This one's about you," she captioned a teaser for the song.

However, in a subsequent post, the 26-year-old revealed she wrote the track on a "random Tuesday".

"It ended up being the best random Tuesday of my life. Not only was it so fun to write, but this song became to me something I can look back on that will score the mental montage to the very confusing and fun young adult years of life," she said.

"It sounds like the song embodiment of a loving eye roll, and it feels like a never-ending road trip in the summer! Hence why I wanted to give it to you now- so you can stick your head out the car window and scream it all summer long!"