Man’s Best Friend album cover “approved by God””>
Sabrina Carpenter. Image via publicist.
Two weeks after Sabrina Carpenter released the controversial album cover of her upcoming project Man’s Best Friend, the pop singer returned to Instagram to share an alternate version, as the BBC points out. And in an ironic nod to the fierce moral debate over the original cover, Carpenter quipped in the image’s caption that the new one is “approved by God,” See it below.
The original cover featured Carpenter on all fours, hair clutched by a suited figure just barely in frame. The art provoked a strong reaction: some fans saw the original album cover as in line with Carpenter’s slightly satirical, sexually liberated brand.
Others were more critical, including the domestic abuse support organization Glasgow Women’s Aid, who called the cover “a throwback to tired tropes that reduce women to pets, props, and possessions and promote an element of violence and control.”
Carpenter did not respond to the controversy until yesterday, when she posted the new cover: a subdued black-and-white photograph of herself grasping a man’s arm while staring into the distance.
While she acknowledged the backlash, the controversial album cover is here to stay. In the post revealing the new album art, the singer also announced that she had taken time to sign copies of the original. Both versions of the cover will be available when the album releases on August 29.
