Sabrina Carpenter has shared her perspective on the backlash aimed at Barry Keoghan after the two broke up.
The pop singer’s seventh studio album ‘Man’s Best Friend‘ arrived on Friday (August 29), having been previewed by the “song of the summer” ‘Manchild‘. The lyrics to that saw Carpenter call out inept men, leading fans to believe it was written as a dig at Keoghan.
The same day the record dropped, Carpenter sat down with CBS Mornings‘ Gayle King, touching on how the album wasn’t for the “pearl clutchers” and addressing the controversy surrounding its cover.
Elsewhere in their discussion, King brought up Keoghan by name, saying he had gotten “a lot of backlash because your fans are very loyal,” to which the pop singer replied: “Correct.”
After being asked how she felt about that, Carpenter continued: “You know what’s funny? I feel pretty transparent going into any of my relationships, that I write songs. And I think they’re just as down for it. I think also most of the time, they’ve been pretty flattered when they get a song written about them, good or bad.”
“I think they’re just excited to get a shout-out,” she added. “I’m not scared of men in that sense. I am scared of men sometimes, but I’m not scared in that sense. I think I will attract exactly who I’m supposed to attract.”
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The two were first rumoured to be dating in September 2023, then made their first public appearance together at the Grammys after-party the following February. They attended the MET Gala together too, Carpenter made a nod to his infamous Saltburn scene at Coachella 2024, and the Banshees of Inisherin actor also starred in the music video for her hit song ‘Please Please Please’.
They were rumoured to have split in December 2024, and amid rumours of cheating, Keoghan took to social media to call out some of the “disgusting” behaviour he faced from fans, after he said his name had “been dragged across the internet”.
He is set to play Ringo Starr in the forthcoming four-part biopic film series centring around The Beatles – acting alongside Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, while Carpenter has been linked to a possible role in Mamma Mia 3.
Following it’s release, ‘Man’s Best Friend’ scored a four-star review from NME, with Nick Levine writing: “Musically, this album isn’t markedly different from its predecessor, though it has a few more country-leaning cuts sprinkled among the daytime disco and featherlight funk.
“It also sticks to Carpenter’s winning formula of pairing sticky melodies with pithy lyrics about the flaws and allure of inadequate males. If there were a Bechdel Test for pop albums, ‘Man’s Best Friend’ wouldn’t be in danger of passing it.”
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