Sabrina Carpenter Debunks Rumors She Had A Lolita-Inspired Photoshoot
Everything is not what it seems.
Sabrina Carpenter is addressing critics who think she referenced Lolita in a 2024 photoshoot with W Magazine. According to critics online, one photo in particular seems to be a nod to the 1997 movie, starring Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain. In the photo, Carpenter is laying on the lawn with her feet in the air, next to a sprinkler. The staging is similar to a moment in the movie, prompting people to think that the photo was inspired by the controversial film. But Carpenter debunked those rumors on TikTok.
When one TikTok account posted a side-by-side comparison of Carpenter’s W Mag photoshoot with a Lolita movie still, the “Manchild” singer responded in the comments section. “I’ve never seen this movie. It’s never been on my mood board and never would be,” she wrote.
The film, which is based on the 1955 novel, is about a middle-aged professor who becomes sexually obsessed with a 12-year-old girl and marries her mother only to be close to her. In several scenes in the movie, he slaps the young girl.
Other fans have claimed that Carpenter’s disc art on her Man’s Best Friend record is a reference to another shot in the 1962 version of the Lolita film — when the professor is holding the young girl’s feet as she lounges on the bed. But based on Carpenter’s comment, it seems that any resemblance between the two projects is just coincidence.
Carpenter has clapped back against other criticism related to her Man’s Best Friend album art, which shows her on her knees while someone holds her hair. When one person responded to the photo on X, formerly called Twitter, they questioned, “Does she have a personality outside of sex?” Carpenter replied to the hater, “girl yes and it is goooooood.”
It seems like Carpenter is not taking the hate to heart. During a Rolling Stone interview in June, she opened up about her reaction to this kind of feedback. “It’s always so funny to me when people complain,” Carpenter said. “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.”
