After finding herself in inexplicably hot water over the cheeky cover to her upcoming new album Man’s Best Friend, pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter is sharing a new version of the album art — and she says it got the stamp of approval from more than just her label.
On Wednesday (June 25), Carpenter announced that she was selling signed copies of her new album (due out on Aug. 29 via Island Records), some of which featured a toned-down version of the LP’s previously revealed artwork. The new black-and-white cover shows Carpenter with her hand placed on a suited man’s shoulder as she peers off-camera.
“i signed some copies of Man’s Best Friend for you guys,” she wrote in the caption. “& here is a new alternate cover approved by God.”
The switched-up photo comes after Carpenter received a wave of backlash after unveiling the original artwork for the album, which featured her on her hands and knees touching a man’s leg, while the faceless individual held up a fistful of her hair.
Some critics called out the cover’s provocative and sexualized imagery, with a few going as far as to claim that the image was anti-feminist. But plenty of others defended the Man’s Best Friend artwork as another extension of the singer’s well-established brand of sex positivity. Even legendary singer-songwriter Carly Simon weighed in on the controversy, saying that the artwork looked “tame” to her. “She’s not doing anything outrageous … There have been far flashier covers than hers,” Simon said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “I don’t know why she’s getting such flak.”
The album itself is already off to a good start, with lead single “Manchild” earning Carpenter her second No. 1 hit on the June 21-dated Billboard Hot 100 and becoming her first song to debut at the top of the chart. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me!!!!” she wrote on Instagram after news broke of her No. 1 debut. “This song makes me so happy. Thank you eternally for listening.”
Check out Sabrina Carpenter’s divine-ordained new artwork for Man’s Best Friend below:
