Theory on Who's in Sabrina Carpenter's Controversial Album Cover Blows Minds

Newsweek

6 hours ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A woman has gone viral for sharing her theory on Sabrina Carpenter's newly-released upcoming album artwork, and believes she knows who appears on the cover alongside the popstar.
Singer Carpenter, whose 2024 smash hit Espresso clinched the title of the most-streamed song on Spotify last year, got fans in a frenzy in June when she released the lead single, Manchild, from her upcoming album.
At the same time, she revealed the name of her next record—Man's Best Friend—and the artwork set to illustrate the cover.
But while her new song has racked up more than 54 million Spotify streams, and the accompanying video watched 25 million times on YouTube since its release nine days ago, it has come with some backlash, as some fans accused Manchild of containing lyrics which could be construed as ableist.
The album art, too, is not without controversy. Revealed via Carpenter's Instagram account, seen here, it depicts the 26-year-old singer in a black dress and heels, before kneeling before what appears to be a man in a black suit, her hair tangled in their outstretched hand.
It sparked a huge discussion online, with some worrying it promoted regressive gender stereotypes, with one TikTok user, @ddiva444, previously telling Newsweek she believes it "paints women as an object used to serve men" and "normalizes violence towards women."
As the debate rages on, one woman has turned the album cover on its head, with her theory that what has been shared so far is not the full artwork at all.
TikTok user @thespoiledstylistt shared a video to her account on June 12, and said she was "calling it right now."
She predicted Carpenter's album cover is "rage bait," and she would eventually release the "zoomed out version, and it will be her holding her own hair."
The woman pointed out the proportions of the person in the suit, saying the assumed man in the image "looks tiny and his hands look small."
Going further, she pointed out that Carpenter dressed in a suit for the after-party of the Met Gala, and that this is a hint towards the album cover. Newsweek has contacted Carpenter's representatives via email for comment on this story outside of normal working hours and will update this article if they respond.
The theory video got a lot of online attention, being like more than 855,000 times and racking up close to 10 million views since being posted just days ago, as commenters continued to share their own opinions, one calling the cover "tone deaf, I am genuinely baffled how anyone is defending it."
Sabrina Carpenter wears a sui at the Met Gala After Party on May 5, 2025.
Sabrina Carpenter wears a sui at the Met Gala After Party on May 5, 2025.
Ilya"I think maybe people are missing the point... she's alluding to that fact that men have treated her like a dog as a joke," another said, while one defended the musician: "I'm so confused on why we care about Sabrina's album cover, are we forgetting what feminism actually is?"
Another wasn't keen on the theory, saying "that hand is clearly a man's hand," but another suggested: "I swear this is just a social experiment [on] how people switch up so fast against her."
And another said: "I don't think her album is rage bait cause there's nothing to get upset about in the first place. It's her art and she isn't even being offensive to anyone!"
The comments continued to pile up on Carpenter's Instagram post, which itself has just under 5 million likes.
There comments were polarized there too, with one writing: "This isn't satire, this is not empowering to women. You've missed the mark by so much hun."
While someone else said: "People complaining when it's actually genius. It's an imagine full of layers to be seen: There's irony, there's conflict, there's a joke, there's critic, there's self-critic, there's a play with the words in the title. There's a lot."
Newsweek has contacted @thespoiledstylistt on TikTok for comment on this story.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures you want to share? Send them to [e-mail] with some extra details, and they could appear on our website.