Barbara Carpenter has criticized and defended her album’s “very bold” lyrics, which “pale clutchers” have taken issue with.
Pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter has hit back at critics of her upcoming album Man’s Best Friend after they took issue with the provocative nature of her lyrics and album cover and accused her of ‘exploiting the male gaze.”
“It is not for the pearl clutchers. The album is not for any pearl clutchers no,” the 26-year-old singer told Gayle King on CBS Mornings. “But I also think that even pearl clutchers can listen to an album like that in their own solitude and find something that makes them smirk and chuckle to themselves”
Although Sabrina acknowledged that her lyrics are occasionally “extremely bold,” they aren’t always something you want to sing in front of others. She hoped that the appeal would appeal to the masses, but that was a significant component of it.
Carpenter remarked, “It’s like it’s almost TMI.”
However, when I watch a concert with a large number of young women screaming at the top of their lungs with their closest friends, I can think about how you can all sigh of relief and think, “Oh, this is just fun and and that’s all it has to be.” “
READ MORE: Woman who looks ‘exactly like Sabrina Carpenter’ is mobbed on night outREAD MORE: At-home laser device Sabrina Carpenter never travels without for ‘younger looking’ skin
The two-time Grammy winner has also come under fire for the simulated sex positions she demonstrates onstage while performing her song Juno on her Short n’ Sweet Tour, as well as the album cover art itself, which features Sabrina on all fours while a faceless suited figure grips her hair.
Women’s Aid in Glasgow, who called the image “regressive,” was among the critics. They wrote online that “picturing herself on all fours with a man pulling her hair and calling it “Man’s Best Friend” is not subversion. It’s a rehashed of old tropes that portray women as pets, possessions, and props, while promoting violence and control.
Fans have defended her, with some arguing that the image itself is a satirical nod to Sabrina’s polarizing past, which she has been accused of.
For those of you who may lack critical thinking skills, the cover is clearly satirical with a deeper meaning, depicting how the general public views her, believing she is just for the male gaze, is what a fan wrote on X.
However, a second fan retorted, “Satire only works when it explicitly exposes, exaggerates, or criticizes the subject matter being referenced.” The cover of Sabrina recreates sexist imagery without reversing it, making it read as compliance rather than commentary.
Controversy aside, it hasn’t stopped Sabrina from being asked to team up with pop superstar Taylor Swift, with the Shake It Off singer having revealed the pair have collaborated together on the title track of her upcoming album The Life of a Showgirl.
Sharing the news on August 11, Taylor revealed that the song is the only duet on the album, which features a number of tracks titled Cancelled and Ruin the Friendship which are heavily rumoured to be about Taylor’s former BFF Blake Lively.
Lively dragged the 35-year-old pop star into her bitter legal war against her It Ends with Us director-leading man Justin Baldoni last year – who incidentally, previously directed Carpenter in the 2020 Disney+ musical drama Clouds.
The Espresso hitmaker, who had nothing but positive things to say about Justin while they were working together, couldn’t be held to account for Baldoni, who may have taken issue with him.
“No one else could have made us also feel secure enough to give the performances that we did. [Plus] our editors and our cinematographer, like, I love the way the movie was shot,” Sabrina gushed to Access Hollywood .
It appears to be very beautiful. Everything is brought to life by it. The score aside, everything is done so beautifully. He made sure to watch everything. Nothing was unattended, and I believe it is difficult to do that.
Blake previously accused the 41-year-old filmmaker of sexually harassing her on the set of his 2024 film It Ends With Us, as well as claiming he ran a retaliatory smear campaign online and in the press after she seized control of his movie.
According to Bladoni’s defense attorney Bryan Freedman, Lively’s legal team allegedly threatened to release a decade’s worth of text messages unless she complied as a bitter fallout developed both inside and outside the courtroom.
The public has already voted in his favor in the Manhattan US District Court hearing Lively and Baldoni face off against each other in March.
