Sabrina Carpenter drops Marilyn-inspired cover for ‘Man’s Best Friend’ — all you need to know about the album

Sabrina Carpenter has dropped a new cover for her upcoming album, Man's Best Friend, and it has drawn parallels to an iconic Marilyn Monroe portrait due to their similarities. Both pictures feature Sabrina Carpenter and Marilyn Monroe, respectively, looking intently in another direction while holding the arms of men.

The only difference between the images is that while the man in Monroe’s portrait is her husband, Arthur Miller, the identity of the man in Sabrina's album cover is not known.

The picture in question was reportedly taken during the pomp of Monroe's popularity, in the late 1950s, and has inspired many shots of a similar essence. The latest artist to try to recapture the splendour of the portrait is Sabrina, who has tried to tap into the rich vein of cultural history. The latest album cover comes decades after the original photo was captured, and pays a tribute to Marilyn Monroe.

The alternate cover was released by Sabrina today after the original artwork got exposed to a wave of controversy. The previous cover featured Sabrina Carpenter's hair getting tugged by a man, and the allegedly perceived seamy nature of the poster even led to some people critiquing the artist for feeding into the male gaze. Sensing the growing controversy, Carpenter decided to throw fans a bone by releasing an alternate cover that was accompanied by a sassy caption which read:

"I signed some copies of Man's Best Friend for you guys & here is a new alternate cover approved by God available now on my website."

The alternate cover has drawn comparisons to iconic Marilyn Monroe imagery and has been well-received by fans on social media as well. The new cover art is a far cry from the original one, which was deemed to be too suggestive by many, and has been construed by many as a tit for tat tactic employed by Sabrina to the growing criticisms she was subjected to.

What else to expect from Sabrina Carpenter's Man’s Best Friend?

Man's Best Friend was officially announced by Sabrina Carpenter on June 11, and her announcement was also accompanied by the cover art. The upcoming album follows her massively successful Short n’ Sweet, which was released in 2024 and sold 10 million albums globally. The album is going to be released on August 29, 2025.

Though the complete Man's Best Friend track list has not been disclosed so far, one of the songs from the album has already been released. The aptly titled Manchild has stormed the charts in the world of music and ranks among one of the more popular songs that have been released in the recent past. The album is set to be Sabrina's seventh studio album, and in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, she opened up about the motivations behind the project:

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"It wasn’t written from a place of ‘How do I one-up myself?’ or ‘How do I re-create something else? It fed me, and it fed a lot of other people in the world. It felt true to me, and it felt authentic to a lot of other people. It’s rare that those line up ever, let alone more than once. It unlocked my brain to know myself more and more."

Following the release of her upcoming album, Sabrina Carpenter will also embark on the second leg of her “Short n’ Sweet” tour. The tour kicks off on October 23 in Pittsburgh and will possibly see the artist performing the tunes of the tracks from Man's Best Friend as well.

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