Sabrina Carpenter has had one of the busiest years of her career, and she has spoken more openly than ever about the personal moments that inspired her new album. With “Man’s Best Friend,” Carpenter stepped into a new phase as an artist, and a big part of that came from looking back at relationships that left her feeling pushed, or what she describes as “yanked” around emotionally.
The album cover features Carpenter on her hands and knees while a man grips her hair, and it stirred a lot of reaction when it came out in June. Now, Carpenter did not shy away from explaining why she chose it.
Sabrina Carpenter explains reason behind ‘Man’s Best Friend’ album art
In her Variety interview, Sabrina Carpenter said the cover for “Man’s Best Friend” came from how she felt during certain relationships. She said, “It was about how people try to control women, and how I felt emotionally yanked around by these relationships that I had, and how much power you’re allowing yourself to give them.” The pop star added that the cover shows the strange mix of feeling in control and out of control at the same time.
Even with her commitment to her work, she still talks about her love life the same way she writes: she is direct, funny, and does not pretend things were easier than they were.
When the album cover sparked anger online, Carpenter did not change her story. She told Variety that she understood people saw it in their own way, but the meaning she attributed to it came from her own real-life experiences. As Carpenter put it, “It meant one thing to me and 100 things to other people,” adding that she did not plan the alternate cover as a response to the backlash.
As her career keeps rising, Sabrina Carpenter seems more sure of her choices than ever. She has been clear that the album reflects the parts of her life that were messy but important, and she is using all of it to move forward.
Originally reported by Ishika Mishra for RealityTea.
