‘70s Music Legend Carly Simon, 81, Defends Sabrina Carpenter’s Controversial Album Cover

Carly Simon thinks the hoopla over Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover is a whole lot of nothing. 

Speaking with Rolling Stone in June 2025, the legendary "You’re So Vain” songstress downplayed the 26-year-old pop star’s controversial album artwork, which features her on her hands and knees in a dog-like pose as a man grabs her by the hair.

"She’s not doing anything outrageous,” Simon, 81, told the outlet. “It seems tame. There have been far flashier covers than hers. One of the most startling covers I’ve ever seen was [The Rolling Stones] Sticky Fingers. That was out there in terms of sexual attitude. So, I don’t know why she’s getting such flak."

Carpenter has received backlash over the cover, which she revealed to fans on Instagram on June 11. "My new album, 'Man's Best Friend' ???? is out on August 29, 2025," Carpenter captioned a post of the cover shot. "I can't wait for it to be yours x."

Outraged commenters slammed the photo, with some accusing Carpenter of romanticizing violence. “This isn’t satire, this is not empowering to women. You’ve missed the mark by so much hun,” one commenter wrote.

Fifty years ago, Simon was in a similar situation with the release of her album, Playing Possum. The 1975 album cover featured Simon on her knees wearing black lingerie and black boots. The shot was taken spontaneously as the singer was moving through poses during a photoshoot with photographer Norman Seeff.

“It wasn’t done on purpose. It wasn’t a setup,” Simon said in the Rolling Stone interview. “No one thought about what it might convey. It was a fascinating, unique image and it left a lot to the imagination.”

“Everybody looked at it, and people definitely had a reaction to it,” Simon added of the cover.

Seeff once explained the image to the San Francisco Art Exchange, noting that Simon “stripped down to a black teddy and began dancing around the studio to the soundtrack of Shaft” during their photoshoot in 1974.

”The image used on the cover of her album Playing Possum was considered to be one of the sexiest ever to be on an album, and she has recounted how she was criticized for this,” the photographer recalled. “Carly was actually in the process of a series of yoga exercises!! She later commented, ‘Looking at myself I thought – my God, I had a baby 4 months ago. The shot doesn’t go along exactly with the image of new motherhood, but I liked it!”

As for Carpenter’s similar situation 50 years later, Simon said, “Any press is good press, so I wouldn’t worry about the press. And as far as her being salacious, I certainly don’t think it’s that.”

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