December 04, 2025
C Flanigan/imageSPACE/Sipa USA
Sabrina Carpenter was named Variety's 'Hitmaker of the Year.' In a profile with the magazine, she discussed backlash she's received over her suggestive lyrics and the 'Man's Best Friend' album cover.
Sabrina Carpenter addressed her risqué on-stage persona, suggestive songs and controversial album cover in a Variety profile published Wednesday.
The 26-year-old Bucks County native, who was named the magazine's "Hitmaker of the Year" in October, spoke candidly to reporter Selome Hailu about the irony-laced lyrics that have become staples of some of her biggest hits like "Espresso" and "Manchild," and how this style has charted new ground for her as an artist.
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"I feel like you can be super confident and strong and also knowingly f--- up and knowingly get yourself into situations that are not good for you," she said in the profile. "But you're doing it all because you are a smart woman and because you're in control of your life. You can be super put-together and everything can be in shambles. Like, two things can exist!"
Her 2025 album, "Man's Best Friend," which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and earned the singer six Grammy nominations including "Album of the Year," was the subject of some backlash for its cover showing Carpenter on all fours with her hair being pulled by an anonymous man in a suit — imagery that critics deemed demeaning.
"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," she said. "... It meant one thing to me and 100 things to other people. ... I saw it and was like 'That is a great point. It wasn't the point I was trying to make.'"
Many of the songs on her two albums include suggestive lyrics that detractors claim cross over the line of clever and into inappropriate. She said that much of the controversial messaging is intentional, adding that some of the backlash stems from her beginnings as a child actress on Disney Channel's "Girl Meets World."
"There's so much sarcasm on the album; More than people have been able to pick up on, unfortunately," she said. "... I think it wouldn't matter so much if I wasn't a childhood figure for some people. But I also can't really help that. It's not my fault that I got a job when I was 12 and you won't let me evolve."
Carpenter also discussed her being the sole feature on the title track for Berks County native Taylor Swift's chart-topping 12th album, "The Life of a Showgirl."
"Ten-year-old me, for so many reasons, could not believe it — to hear our voices together," she said. "We definitely realized it was special. ... She was so gracious to think of me for a song that spoke to our life experiences in such a real, genuine way."
On Saturday, Carpenter will be awarded Variety's 2025 "Hitmaker of the Year," which has been given to some of the most influential voices in music for the past nine years, including Charli XCX, Kendrick Lamar, SZA and Elton John.
The event will cap off a newsworthy week for the pop star, who went toe-to-toe with the White House on social media over its use of her song "Juno" in a video of immigration raids.
"This video is evil and disgusting," Carpenter replied Tuesday on X in a post that has garnered over 1.6 million likes. "Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda."
this video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.
— Sabrina Carpenter (@SabrinaAnnLynn) December 2, 2025
"Here's a Short n' Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: We won't apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists and pedophiles from our country," Jackson said in a statement to the New York Times. "Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?"
Carpenter shows no signs of slowing yet. Just before Thanksgiving, she wrapped up her "Short n' Sweet Tour" after a 14-month run. After Grammy Awards in February, she is scheduled to headline Coachella 2026 in April and was recently announced as the producer and star of a movie musical based on "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
