Latest news with #controversy
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend Discourse, Explained
Fresh off debuting her brand-new single 'Manchild' live at Primavera Sound 2025, Sabrina Carpenter hit fans with another major news alert: Her seventh studio album, officially titled Man's Best Friend, will be released on August 29, 2025, not even a year after the release of her Grammy-winning album Short n' Sweet. While some simply rejoiced at the prospect of new Sabrina Carpenter music so soon after such a significant project, many others took to social media to comment on the album's title and accompanying visuals, starting a debate around hypersexualization, misogyny, and the male gaze. Below, we break down the discourse and drama so you get the full picture. Jump to your preferred section: When and how did Sabrina Carpenter announce Man's Best Friend? What's the controversy around Sabrina Carpenter's Man's Best Friend? Are people defending Sabrina Carpenter for Man's Best Friend? What has Sabrina Carpenter said about the controversy? Sabrina Carpenter first announced her new album, Man's Best Friend, on June 11, 2025. The star simultaneously revealed that the project would include 'Manchild' as its lead single and unveiled the cover art for the project. In the album art, which you can see below, Carpenter appears on her knees before a suited figure, which many have assumed to be a man given the title, who grabs her hair. The back cover of the album appears to be a photo of a dog wearing a collar with the album's title in a heart-shaped pendant. To coincide with the announcement, Carpenter also appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone, shot by David LaChapelle, wearing nothing but white stockings. 'If I really wanted to, I could have stretched out Short n' Sweet much, much longer," Carpenter said in her cover interview. 'But I'm at that point in my life where I'm like, 'Wait a second, there's no rules.' If I'm inspired to write and make something new, I would rather do that. Why would I wait three years just for the sake of waiting three years? It's all about what feels right. I'm learning to listen to that a lot more, instead of what is perceived as the right or wrong move.' Though Carpenter has gained a reputation for sexually charged and explicit innuendos, the cover art for Man's Best Friend has gained the star a fair share of criticism and a number of detractors who claim the image is degrading and even misogynistic. Many have pointed out the image bears a strong resemblance to 'misogynistic ads from the '60s.' In contrast, others claim that the photograph is intended for the male gaze and that nowadays liberation can be achieved through other means. 'Intentionally reproducing a misogynistic aesthetic, even under the guise of satire, doesn't subvert it; it reinforces it. It aestheticizes the very tropes it claims to critique,' someone wrote on X criticizing the cover. Others argued that while the point of the cover was to subvert sexist tropes, its execution failed to deliver. 'Satire implies an exaggeration,' another person wrote on X. 'The Sabrina cover and title can easily be perceived at face value, so it FAILS at being satire.' While there's a handful of people criticizing the cover of Man's Best Friend, there are also many people defending the choice of cover art, saying it's supposed to be satirical, ironic, and tongue-in-cheek. "The way people can't comprehend that an album called 'Man's Best Friend' with cover art of a man treating a woman like a dog (b*tch), and a lead song titled 'Manchild' is clearly ironic/criticizing those things," someone commented on X. Some claimed detractors are trying to police Carpenter's sexual expression, while others defended the cover as being purposely controversial, likening it to previous work from '80s, '90s, and '00s stars like Madonna, Xtina, and Britney. As far as the accusations that say Carpenter is catering to the male gaze, others jumped to the singer's defense, both in relation to the cover art for the album and the Rolling Stone cover. 'Saying a woman is 'catering to the male gaze' has become a modern form of slutshaming disguised as feminism. She has every right to show off her body,' a person wrote on X. 'Maybe this is a bad take, but I fear we have 'stop doing things for the male gaze'd ourselves back into expecting women to be modest and shaming them otherwise, and it's strange,' a second one agreed. 'Y'all are starting to say feminism=modesty, and it's really pmo. Her owning and doing what she wants with her body IS feminism,' a third one added. Some, however, saw a case for both sides. 'I think Sabrina's album cover can be satirical, but I also think it can still be very off-putting for many women and [they're] allowed to feel that way,' a user wrote on X. Sabrina Carpenter briefly addressed the discourse surrounding the cover art for Man's Best Friend replying to a fan on X. 'Does she have a personality outside of sex?' someone asked quote rewteeting a post asking people to share their opinions on the cover art of the album, to which Carpenter replied: 'Girl yes and it is goooooood.' Carpenter also replied to a TikTok user who claimed the artist referenced Lolita, Adrian Lyne's 1997 movie adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's highly criticized novel, in a W Magazine editorial from 2024 — something multiple people online had pointed out after the reveal of the Man's Best Friend cover. 'I've never seen this movie. It's never been on my mood board and never would be,' Carpenter replied in the comment section of the original TikTok. Previously, in her interview with Rolling Stone, the star also opened up about dealing with shaming for past overt innuendos. "It's always so funny to me when people complain," she told the publication. 'They're like, 'All she does is sing about this.' But those are the songs that you've made popular. Clearly you love sex. You're obsessed with it. It's in my show. There's so many more moments than the 'Juno' positions, but those are the ones you post every night and comment on. I can't control that. If you come to the show, you'll [also] hear the ballads, you'll hear the more introspective numbers. I find irony and humor in all of that, because it seems to be a recurring theme. I'm not upset about it, other than I feel mad pressure to be funny sometimes.' Carpenter also opened up about women in entertainment being scrutinized more than ever before: 'I don't want to be pessimistic, but I truly feel like I've never lived in a time where women have been picked apart more, and scrutinized in every capacity. I'm not just talking about me. I'm talking about every female artist that is making art right now.' 'We're in such a weird time where you would think it's girl power, and women supporting women, but in reality, the second you see a picture of someone wearing a dress on a carpet, you have to say everything mean about it in the first 30 seconds that you see it," she added. Editor's Note: This story was originally published on June 13, 2025, and has since been updated. Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue Want more great Culture stories from Teen Vogue? Check these out: Underneath Chappell Roan's Hannah Montana Wig? A Pop Star for the Ages Is Your New Favorite Song Real or AI? Bridgerton Showrunner Clarifies Benedict's Sexuality & Talks Francesca's Queer Plot Twist The Borders of Country Music Are Finally Crumbling
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Los Angeles Dodgers Say They Turned Away ICE Agents, But ICE Disputes It
The Los Angeles Dodgers waded into controversy on June 19, when they wrote on their X page that they had turned away ICE agents at their parking lot, and ICE quickly labeled the Dodgers' statement "false." "This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots. They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization," the Dodgers wrote in a statement posted on X. Tonight's game will be played as scheduled." The post quickly reached more than 7 million views on X. The post brought a sharp response from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which responded on X, "This had nothing to do with the Dodgers. CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement." CBP stands for U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency also fired back, writing on X, "False. We were never there." The situation sparked additional conflicting reports. According to ESPN, "Dozens of federal agents with their faces covered arrived in SUVs and cargo vans to a lot near the stadium's Gate E entrance," and protesters with signs criticizing ICE "started amassing shortly after." "This had nothing to do with the Dodgers. [Customs and Border Protection] vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement," Tricia McLaughlin, a public affairs professional for Homeland Security, told ESPN. Eunisses Hernandez, a Los Angeles City Council member, told NBC News that she received calls on the morning of June 19 that "federal agents were staging here at the entrance of Dodgers Stadium. We got pictures of dozens of vehicles and dozens of agents."Los Angeles Dodgers Say They Turned Away ICE Agents, But ICE Disputes It first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 19, 2025
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Sabrina Carpenter hits back at fan comparing her 'oversexed' shoot with controversial Lolita film
Sabrina Carpenter has defended a controversial image from an article featured in the September 2024 issue of W Magazine. This pop star, 26, shut down a fan who compared an image from the photo shoot to the controversial 1997 film Lolita. The movie, based on Vladimir Nabokov's book of the same name, follows a man's inappropriate infatuation with a teenage girl. It stars Jeremy Irons, Dominique Swain, Melanie Griffith and Frank Langella. A TikTok user re-shared a side-by-side comparison of two photos - one of Sabrina lying in grass under a sprinkler, and a movie still of Dominique doing the same thing -originally posted by The Pop Faction. The post was captioned, 'gross,' and the social media user asked in a video, 'What the eff is this?' Sabrina denied the Lolita inspiration, writing in the comments: 'I've never seen this movie. It's never been on my moodboard and never would be.' However, the critic didn't back down and instead doubled down on the judgment. In a comment that has garnered nearly 9,000 likes, the person quoted a line from Sabrina's song Nonsense, which she had tweaked for the audience while on tour in Mexico, writing: '"Fully grown but I look like a niña," [yeah] sure.' Per an account from Billboard, the complete lyric Sabrina used in the show was, 'I'm full grown but I look like a niña/ Come put something big in my casita/ Mexico, I think you are bonita!' The singer has been under fire lately for her sexualized performances and imagery. For the cover of Rolling Stone's July/August issue, the singer went nude posing on her knees, dressed in nothing save for thigh-high white hosiery. She was also criticized for the provocative cover art of her new album Man's Best Friend which depicts her crouching on all fours while a faceless man dressed in a suit tugs at her hair. Meanwhile, during her ongoing Short n' Sweet Tour audiences have come to expect simulated sex acts and cheekily engineered lyrics during the stage show. Footage from the set contain concertgoers reveling during these moments, but Sabrina has also received criticism for the NSFW display. Addressing the hate in her Rolling Stone interview, she noted that the sex-centric songs are the ones most beloved by fans. 'It's always so funny to me when people complain. They're like, "All she does is sing about this." 'But those are the songs that you've made popular. Clearly you love sex. You're obsessed with it.' Referencing one song in particular, she added: 'It's in my show. There's so many more moments than the "Juno" positions, but those are the ones you post every night and comment on. I can't control that. 'If you come to the show, you'll [also] hear the ballads, you'll hear the more introspective numbers.' She added: 'I find irony and humor in all of that, because it seems to be a recurring theme. I'm not upset about it, other than I feel mad pressure to be funny sometimes.'
Washington Post
a day ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Doonesbury Comic Strips by Garry Trudeau - June 18, 2025
........Trump on Fed Reserve Chair Jerome Powell: "A stupid person."....CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten on polling unpopularity of Trump's Big Beautiful Bill: "Oh my God! You need Greg Louganis to get that far underwater!"....Trump on Sen. Alex Padilla: "Nobody's every heard of this like an illegal."....Padilla on Trump, speaking on Senate floor: "A vindictive president on a tour of never had a tyrant as a commander-in-chief."....Trump on Elon Musk: "The man who has lost his mind."....Steve Bannon on Musk: "He should be deported from the country immediately."....DHS Sec. Kristi Noem on LA: "They're not a city of immigrants. They're a city of criminals."....Trump on LA demonstrations against ICE raids: "These are paid insurrectionists, paid trouble-makers; they get money."....Tina Brown: "There's nothing Trump is better at than doubling down on a lie."....Speaker Mike Johnson on CA Gov. Gavin Newsom: "He should be tarred and feathered."....Trump, on whether "border czar" Tom Homan should arrest Newsom: "I would."....ABC's Terry Moran on Trump adviser Stephen Miller: "He's a world-class can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate."....Steve Schmidt: "What the American people are witnessing is Trump and Miller's rolling Reichstag fire...A monstrous lie being used as a pretext to assert power."....Lucian K. Truscott IV on Trump parade: "The whole thing looked like amateur hour at Dictatorville."...Andrew Sullivan: "This, in the president's mind, is not America's military, but his own."....Rep. Jamie Raskin: "We clearly have too many DUI hires in the Trump administration, starting with Secretary Hegseth."....Trump on Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard: "I don't care what she said."....Trump: "I don't know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen."....Rachel Maddow on Trump: "For a would-be strong man he's not strong. He is a remarkably weak and feckless political figure, who is nonetheless trying to overthrow the American form of government."....Sen. Rand Paul on Trump disinviting him from annual WH picnic: "The level of immaturity is beyond words."....Robert Lipsyte: "Pete Rose and Donald Trump are the dregs of American maleness."....Fox host Jesse Watters on Sports Illustrated swimsuit show: "Remember back in the Biden era, all of the swimsuit models were obese?"....Elon Musk: "Is there a worse publication on the face of the Earth than the Wall Street Journal? I wouldn't use that to line my cage for parrot droppings.".... ........Trump on Fed Reserve Chair Jerome Powell: "A stupid person."....CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten on polling unpopularity of Trump's Big Beautiful Bill: "Oh my God! You need Greg Louganis to get that far underwater!"....Trump on Sen. Alex Padilla: "Nobody's every heard of this like an illegal."....Padilla on Trump, speaking on Senate floor: "A vindictive president on a tour of never had a tyrant as a commander-in-chief."....Trump on Elon Musk: "The man who has lost his mind."....Steve Bannon on Musk: "He should be deported from the country immediately."....DHS Sec. Kristi Noem on LA: "They're not a city of immigrants. They're a city of criminals."....Trump on LA demonstrations against ICE raids: "These are paid insurrectionists, paid trouble-makers; they get money."....Tina Brown: "There's nothing Trump is better at than doubling down on a lie."....Speaker Mike Johnson on CA Gov. Gavin Newsom: "He should be tarred and feathered."....Trump, on whether "border czar" Tom Homan should arrest Newsom: "I would."....ABC's Terry Moran on Trump adviser Stephen Miller: "He's a world-class can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate."....Steve Schmidt: "What the American people are witnessing is Trump and Miller's rolling Reichstag fire...A monstrous lie being used as a pretext to assert power."....Lucian K. Truscott IV on Trump parade: "The whole thing looked like amateur hour at Dictatorville."...Andrew Sullivan: "This, in the president's mind, is not America's military, but his own."....Rep. Jamie Raskin: "We clearly have too many DUI hires in the Trump administration, starting with Secretary Hegseth."....Trump on Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard: "I don't care what she said."....Trump: "I don't know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen."....Rachel Maddow on Trump: "For a would-be strong man he's not strong. He is a remarkably weak and feckless political figure, who is nonetheless trying to overthrow the American form of government."....Sen. Rand Paul on Trump disinviting him from annual WH picnic: "The level of immaturity is beyond words."....Robert Lipsyte: "Pete Rose and Donald Trump are the dregs of American maleness."....Fox host Jesse Watters on Sports Illustrated swimsuit show: "Remember back in the Biden era, all of the swimsuit models were obese?"....Elon Musk: "Is there a worse publication on the face of the Earth than the Wall Street Journal? I wouldn't use that to line my cage for parrot droppings.".... ........Trump on Fed Reserve Chair Jerome Powell: "A stupid person."....CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten on polling unpopularity of Trump's Big Beautiful Bill: "Oh my God! You need Greg Louganis to get that far underwater!"....Trump on Sen. Alex Padilla: "Nobody's every heard of this like an illegal."....Padilla on Trump, speaking on Senate floor: "A vindictive president on a tour of never had a tyrant as a commander-in-chief."....Trump on Elon Musk: "The man who has lost his mind."....Steve Bannon on Musk: "He should be deported from the country immediately."....DHS Sec. Kristi Noem on LA: "They're not a city of immigrants. They're a city of criminals."....Trump on LA demonstrations against ICE raids: "These are paid insurrectionists, paid trouble-makers; they get money."....Tina Brown: "There's nothing Trump is better at than doubling down on a lie."....Speaker Mike Johnson on CA Gov. Gavin Newsom: "He should be tarred and feathered."....Trump, on whether "border czar" Tom Homan should arrest Newsom: "I would."....ABC's Terry Moran on Trump adviser Stephen Miller: "He's a world-class can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate."....Steve Schmidt: "What the American people are witnessing is Trump and Miller's rolling Reichstag fire...A monstrous lie being used as a pretext to assert power."....Lucian K. Truscott IV on Trump parade: "The whole thing looked like amateur hour at Dictatorville."...Andrew Sullivan: "This, in the president's mind, is not America's military, but his own."....Rep. Jamie Raskin: "We clearly have too many DUI hires in the Trump administration, starting with Secretary Hegseth."....Trump on Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard: "I don't care what she said."....Trump: "I don't know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen."....Rachel Maddow on Trump: "For a would-be strong man he's not strong. He is a remarkably weak and feckless political figure, who is nonetheless trying to overthrow the American form of government."....Sen. Rand Paul on Trump disinviting him from annual WH picnic: "The level of immaturity is beyond words."....Robert Lipsyte: "Pete Rose and Donald Trump are the dregs of American maleness."....Fox host Jesse Watters on Sports Illustrated swimsuit show: "Remember back in the Biden era, all of the swimsuit models were obese?"....Elon Musk: "Is there a worse publication on the face of the Earth than the Wall Street Journal? I wouldn't use that to line my cage for parrot droppings."....
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What are the 20 most controversial album covers of all time?
Content warning: This article contains images which some readers may find offensive. If you're a music lover and enjoy a bit of drama, you must have heard that controversy is brewing over the artwork of Sabrina Carpenter's upcoming album 'Man's Best Friend'. The suggestive – but hardly sexually explicit - cover features the buzzy 'Espresso' hitmaker on her knees in front of a faceless man who is pulling her hair back. And the release of the image has caused much debate. Many argue that Carpenter's MO has always been pop-horniness, and that she has every right to express herself and her sexuality – in this case what some may perceive as a submissive kink - in any way she sees fit and crucially, without being policed or harassed; others see this image as degrading, regressive and promoting traditional gender roles. At the end of the day, it's her album cover and can't we just let her be? Some hyper-conservative and hyper-progressive corners of the internet clearly disagree, and the reactions have been intense – which is hardly surprising, considering sexuality has always rubbed some people up the wrong way. Plus, scandal is hardly new for musicians, as artists have sparked outrage with their album covers for decades, leading some to be censored or even banned. From nudity to the open courting of outrage via political statements (and sometimes, downright poor taste), here are 20 provocative covers that rocked the music world and faced the most backlash. We proceed chronologically. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Euronews Culture (@euronewsculture) While hardly controversial compared to some of the other covers in this list, that's a downright unfortunate title to go with this image. And isn't the one on the right an uncanny dead ringer for a young Stephen Fry? Unsettling. It's not one of the Fab Four's most famous albums, but certainly their most notorious. Photographer Robert Whitaker took a snap of the band in white butcher's coats, surrounded by raw meat and dismembered baby dolls. Paul McCartney claimed it was a comment against the Vietnam War. US retailers were shocked and refused to stock the album, leading to it being withdrawn and reissued with a more vanilla alternative. Today, the 'Butcher cover' is available in pirated form. Those lucky enough to own an original pressing have an expensive and coveted piece of music history. The cover for the avant-garde 'Two Virgins' captures John Lennon and Yoko Ono completely naked. It sparked outrage, leading distributors to clandestinely sell the album wrapped in brown paper bags. At the end of the 1960s, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker founded a supergroup with Steve Winwood and Ric Grech. They released only one album together, and to mark the occasion, they enlisted photographer Bob Seidemann. His image features a young topless girl holding a model spaceship. The image was considered deeply problematic and was promptly banned and replaced with a more classic shot of the band members. The Stones have had several album cover controversies over the years, including 'Beggar's Banquet''s artwork which featured a graffiti covered bathroom wall. However, it's the band's ninth studio album, designed by Andy Warhol, matched with its inuendo-heavy title, which rubbed censors up the wrong way. It features a suggestive denim-clad crotch and the original pressing of the LP also had a working fly which unzipped to reveal white underwear. The cover was famously banned in Spain, which was under the fascist rule of General Franco at the time. Photographer Eric Boman's shot of Constanze Karoli and Eveline Grunwald led many US outlets to censor the image, feeling uncomfortable with the sight of scantily clad models. Thankfully, most European distributors weren't irked by the sight of lingerie. There's misguided and then there's what was going on in the minds of German rockers Scorpions in 1976. The album titled 'Virgin Killer' depicts a naked 10-year-old girl with broken glass covering her genitalia. The controversy led to a bump in sales, but it remains to this day one of the most censored album covers in music history. NB: Euronews Culture has decided to blur the image since this album cover has been deemed by many as child pornography. Sex Pistols' only studio album caused plenty of pearl clutching when it was released in 1977. A record shop owner in Nottingham, UK, was arrested for displaying the records. This led to an obscenity-related court case, as he was charged for contravening the Indecent Advertisement Act 1889. The charges were eventually dropped. All because of the word 'bollocks'. All it took was a female-led punk outfit appearing topless and covered in mud for everyone to collectively lose their minds. Considering the sheer amount of topless men on album covers, the only words that come to mind are: deal with it. With an album title like that, it was pretty obvious that the (cheeky) cover image would cause some outrage. There are no words. It's one of the most famous album covers in the world but the artwork for Nirvana's grunge masterpiece proved divisive at the time of its release. It features a photo taken by Kirk Weddle of a four-month-old nude baby named Spencer Elden. Kurt Cobain refused for it to be censored, but did state that he would agree to a sticker covering the penis, reading: 'If you're offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile.' It didn't come to that. However, several decades later, Elden attempted to sue Nirvana for violating US federal child pornography protections with the image, arguing that it resulted in 'lifelong damages'. The suit was eventually dismissed. Rap pioneer Ice Cube was no stranger to controversy, what with the headline-grabbing lyrics of N.W.A's 'Fuck Tha Police.' But with 'Death Certificate', he sparked further outrage with the image of a corpse identified as Uncle Sam. The famous rap-metal band's debut album depicts the infamous self-immolation of Vietnamese monk Thích Quảng Đức in 1963, protesting the persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnam's US-backed government. The graphic image caused outrage. Not displeased with the situation, frontman Zach de la Rocha famously burned a US flag at Woodstock '99. The question remains: Could anyone really be surprised with a name like Rage Against The Machine? Heavy metal has always been a genre that has courted controversy, and there are numerous album covers that have shocked over the years. For their 1994 album, titled 'Youthanasia', Megadeth wanted to comment on the fact that society was euthanizing the young. The visual depiction of this ended up being a woman hanging babies by their feet on her washing line. A bit on-the-nose, but it was enough to get everyone freaking out. Marilyn Manson has always pushed the envelope when it comes to taste, and the controversial rocker did just that in 2000 for the album 'Holy Wood (In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death)'. The disturbing cover depicts Manson as a crucified Christ, which led US stores to ban it completely. Considering that the controversial shock rocker's intended purpose was to critique censorship and that the previous albums 'Mechanical Animals' and 'Portrait Of An American Family' also sparked moral panic, the reaction to the artwork must have delighted him. European fans of New York rockers The Strokes were treated with the original cover of their stunning debut album, featuring a leather gloved hand on a naked hip. The US were quick to call foul, however, disapproving of the suggestive nature of the image. The band had to swap the gorgeous shot by Colin Lane – who spontaneously took a picture of his then-girlfriend after she came out of the shower. The replacement? A psychedelic but far less impactful depiction of subatomic particle tracks. In 2001, US hip-hop group The Coup, composed of Boots Riley and DJ Pam the Funktress, wanted to make a statement about destroying capitalism. Their idea: pose in front of the World Trade Center on fire. The image was conceived prior to 9/11 and the eerie timing of the album's November release meant that they had to replace the image with a martini glass on fire. Probably for the best. The cover for Ted Nugent's album was pulled before it hit shelves - and considering the misogynist credentials of this particular image, it might have been for the best. The sleeve for 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' saw a painting of a naked Kanye West being straddled by a winged female monster with sharp teeth. The controversial rapper refused for the image be pulled, but the record label reached a compromise by pixelating the image in some territories. Sabrina Carpenter's 'Man's Best Friend' is released on 29 August.
