Sabrina Carpenter spills about secret mystery man on her scandalous album cover

Los Angeles, California -Sabrina Carpenter is setting the record straight about the mystery man on her Man's Best Friend cover – and as it turns out, there wasn't just one.

Sabrina Carpenter revealed the truth about her controversial Man's Best Friend album cover. © Screenshot/Instagram/@sabrinacarpenter

In a with Zane Lowe, the pop star revealed that it actually took five different guys to nail the now-iconic final shot.

"I wanted a man playing with my hair, and I actually used maybe five different men to take that photo because none of them could play with my hair," she laughed.

"They were all pulling it like they were all like nervous to be holding my hair and so the grip looked like they were yanking it. And the whole purpose of the photo was supposed to be cheeky and airy and playful."

Sabrina added that the final shot only worked because of its balance of vulnerability and power, saying, "This is someone I love, but also someone that can... be doing a lot with my heart and emotions."

"I'm clearly in control even though I'm on all fours," she said.

The cover stirred plenty of controversy online when it dropped, but the Tears artist isn't losing sleep over it!

Sabrina Carpenter tells Zane Lowe she used five different men to shoot the ‘Man’s Best Friend’ cover:

“None of them could play with my hair, they were all pulling it, like they were all nervous…the purpose of the photo is to be cheeky, airy & playful…this is someone I love but… pic.twitter.com/CGwD4mlxPA

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) September 3, 2025

Sabrina Carpenter claps back at backlash over her new album Sabrina Carpenter fired back at critics of her sexy Man's Best Friend era. © Collage: Screenshot/Instagram/@sabrinacarpenter

The 26-year-old singer said much of the outrage seemed to come from an older generation quick to judge her choices.

"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... scolding, and they ALL had sex," she laughed.

"Many times, because they popped a lot of kids out!"

"Like, why did you get to have fun and now I'm not supposed to?" Zane joked as the duo brushed off critics with a laugh.

And for anyone side-eyeing her quick musical output, she had a sharp response.

"If artists put out albums frequently, it’s like, 'Why did they do that? Why are they making art?'" Sabrina said.

"I didn’t watch Frozen for like 3 years after it came out… If you’re not ready to hear the music, don’t click play. Just listen in a couple years, or listen when you’re ready."

Sabrina Carpenter on people complaining about artists releasing albums too quickly:

“If artists put out albums frequently, it’s like, ‘Why did they do that? Why are they making art?’ I didn’t watch ‘Frozen’ for like 3 years after it came out… If you’re not ready to hear the… pic.twitter.com/Kg3bQwkiub

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) September 3, 2025

It's just the latest buzz around Sabrina, who recently dropped a surprise bonus track from Man's Best Friend, with clips that have been taking over TikTok lately in the form of viral lip syncs and dance trends.

Clearly, Sabrina's not only in control of her album cover – she's in control of the cultural conversation.