Sabrina Carpenter isn't backing down from her risqué reinvention as she works to break free from the Disney Channel image some fans still cling to.
The 26-year-old pop star has faced criticism following the release of her last two albums, "Short n' Sweet" and "Man's Best Friend." More than 10 years after her breakout role on Disney's "Girl Meets World," Carpenter has reinvented herself as an artist who makes money being "pretty and witty."
She's often met with backlash for choosing to lean into her sexuality through her music.
"I think it wouldn't matter so much if I wasn't a childhood figure for some people," Carpenter told Variety. "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."
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While Carpenter enjoys including sexual innuendo here and there, she insists she does have boundaries.
"People think, 'Oh, she'll say and do anything.' No. I really do have boundaries with myself - you'd be surprised!" she says. "I'm just actually living my life, and you're watching. If you don't like it, it's not for you. If you do like it, let's play."Â
She continued, "I want to remember this as a time in my life when I really didn't hold back. I wore the skirts I wanted to wear; I spoke about things in a way that I won't regret, because I was very open. I think that's all that matters."
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Carpenter faced backlash over the cover of her latest album, "Man's Best Friend." The album cover, which was shared on Instagram in June, was immediately met with harsh criticism as many fans labeled the photograph of the singer on all fours with a man pulling her hair as suggestive. The photo was labeled "dehumanizing" and "tone deaf" in the pop star's comments section.
"It meant one thing to me and 100 things to other people, and I was looking at it going, 'That's valid. Mine's valid. What's for dinner?'" Carpenter told Variety. "Not to bypass the weight that it did carry for some people. I saw it and was like, 'That is a great point. It wasn't the point I was trying to make.'"
The "Espresso" singer brushed off the noise, noting that fans ultimately listened to the album. Despite the online conversation, Carpenter's album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
"The [original cover] really says it all, even though it's maybe not what you want me to say," she added. "But I was really, really grateful that the fans did listen to the album. It's been the most beautiful reception."
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Carpenter previously blamed a generational double standard for the backlash she received over her album cover.
"There is a generation that gets offended by some of the things I do, and it's a generation that has either young children... or they've raised children, and they're just sort of looking at it from a different point in their life - sort of scolding," Carpenter said during an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music.Â
"And they all had sex - many times - because they popped a lot of kids out. So, I just think about that, and I'm always just like, 'It's so funny.' I mean, we're all, we're just so judgmental."
She added, "I'm not allowed to have sex, but you are?"
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Carpenter is no stranger to outrage over her lyrics. She recently addressed criticism of her songs, which often include sexual innuendos. On her "Short n' Sweet" tour, Carpenter posed in various sex positions during her song "Juno." The moments often went viral, prompting complaints online.
Her latest album also included several songs with cheeky innuendos. Tracks like "House Tour" and "Tears" have caught the attention of fans.
"I mean, there's a lot of nuance to this, and I'm not naive to that, but I felt like, 'Why is this taboo?' This is something that women experience in such a real way, becoming comfortable with themselves and who they are," Carpenter told Interview about her choice to write about the touchy topic of sex.
"There's so many reasons why I called it 'Man's Best Friend,' and there's so many layers in the experiences that I was going through at the time, where, emotionally, I felt like one.
"I'm really, really grateful that there's enough of my audience that really knows me as a person that will be able to hear these songs how they're intended. It's always going to be up to interpretation and I understand that. But I'm glad you like my sexual content."
