Sabrina Carpenter unveils new album art ‘approved by God’ after controversy over original’s suggestive imagery

Oh, boy! Sabrina Carpenter is playfully pushing back against the online controversy surrounding the original cover art for her upcoming album, Man’s Best Friend, by unveiling an alternative, much tamer cover that she claims is “approved by God” themself. 

The 26-year-old “Manchild” singer caught some serious heat on social media earlier this month when she announced the new album and revealed its irony-laden cover, which sees Carpenter on her knees in front of a standing man holding a fistful of her hair. Many commenters criticized the image for being degrading to women, calling it an example of internalized misogyny and comparing it to the axed cover art for Smell the Glove from This Is Spinal Tap. 

Seemingly reacting to the outcry, Carpenter offered up a more PG-friendly cover in an Instagram post on Wednesday. The black-and-white image shows the two-time Grammy winner holding onto a suited man as she glances away from the camera.

Still, much like with the original cover, Carpenter’s post divided fans in its comment section, with some loving her cheeky response to the drama and others not.

“The caption — she’s so unserious,” one wrote. Added another, “I love confident women who don’t care what other people think. Slay.”

Some did not see the need for a second cover. “I prefer the first one (it’s more iconic),” one user commented. Another wrote, “She really said since y’all are so sensitive. Here you go 💀.”

Others, meanwhile, called out Carpenter for joking about puritanical standards rather than addressing the criticisms detractors were levying against her and the artwork. 

“God had nothing to do with it. People just didn’t like the fact you were degrading women with your album’s imagery,” one person wrote. “Do you want to have the actual conversation?”

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Another wrote, “What’s honestly baffling is that you reduce all the criticism to people being ‘prude’ when so many women have explained, clearly and thoughtfully, why the image feels anti-feminist and glamorizes violence. This isn’t about kink. It’s about power, context, and timing. Dismissing that as moral panic is not just tone-deaf, it’s disrespectful.”

Carpenter’s album cover was such a hot topic last week that it even ended up on The View, with cohost Sunny Hostin stressing that it’s pivotal to consider the message that a risqué album cover like Man’s Best Friend may send to children.

“I think that imagery is important,” she said at the time. “And even if her lyrics are strong and she’s a feminist, I just think about young girls seeing that who may not understand.”

Whoopi Goldberg, like many others online, compared the image to This Is Spinal Tap, declaring, “The girl is doing her thing, God bless her.”

Man’s Best Friend drops Aug. 29.

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