Over the last year, Saturday Night Live has had a significant impact on pop culture and the artists who appear on it. On Oct. 18, Sabrina Carpenter, now a third-time guest on SNL, got the chance to not only be a musical guest on the show and perform, but host as well. With quick changes, different sets, and a multitude of live sketches to perform in, Carpenter had her work cut out for her.
Once it was time for her monologue, Carpenter addressed the recent controversy of her album cover. For context, there was discourse over whether her cover was appealing to the male gaze or was trying to riot against it. With the album being titled Man’s Best Friend and the back cover featuring a puppy, people were debating whether or not Carpenter was setting women back 50 years with her innuendos.
“Some people got a little freaked out by the cover, I’m not sure why? It was just this: me on all fours, with an unseen figure pulling my hair. But what people don’t realize is that’s just how they cropped it. If you zoom out, it’s clearly a picture from the 50th anniversary special of Bowen [Yang] helping me up by the hair — after Martin Short shoved me out of the buffet line, saying something like, ‘Daddy need his mini quiche,'” Carpenter said.
In her promotions for the episode, she was alongside SNL star Marcello Hernandez, widely renowned for portraying the character Domingo during season 50, even being one of Carpenter’s “Juno” arrests for being “too hot.” They touched on this while creating hype for it when Hernandez put his wrists out to be cuffed, but Carpenter pointed at the cameraman instead. As Hernandez said, he “couldn’t compete with that.”
Carpenter has a knack for being controversial, however. In the last five years, she’s been the center of internet drama and faced plenty of backlash — and this time is no different. During the first musical performance, she performed her debut single from her latest album, Manchild. With a hairbrush mic in hand and sleepover attire, the performance’s vibe emulated girlhood. A large part of Carpenter’s personality is her cheekiness, and she never shies away from an innuendo or antic. This time, she decided to wear a T-shirt and underwear, the shirt reading “Live from New York” and the back of the underwear reading “It’s Saturday Night!” What’s the problem with this? Honestly, I don’t really know, and I think people just like to be mad sometimes. Carpenter danced and smiled throughout the performance, bringing light to the stage and even making pieces of the set work for her. Watching the performance put a smile on my face, and it felt like dancing to a song in your room late at night.
The show continued with SNL’s whole purpose: providing comedy about modern-day trends and issues. There were skits throughout the episode, including a Girlboss Seminar, which was the main event. In this, she played Queen Lisha, who held the seminar. During the seminar, the character became less coherent as she ended up getting thrown out of a window (not Carpenter but a doll of her), and her words became slurred. As per SNL norms, it is an outrageous and shocking watch, especially when a backup dancer (really just a doll) is thrown out of the window as well.
Every musical guest performs two songs of theirs, and Carpenter chose her more recent trending song, “Nobody’s Son”. The song has a catchy bridge, saying: “That boy is corrupt / Could you raise him to love me, maybe? / He sure f**ked me up / And yes, I’m talking ’bout your baby.” People have been relating heavily to this song, especially with the rest of the bridge. “That boy is corrupt / Get PTSD on the daily / He sure f**ked me up / And yes, I’m talking ’bout your baby.” Because of the popularity of the bridge, Carpenter decided to let the fans sing their hearts out with her on live television as she dropped both f-bombs in the song. Censorship, however, was not the issue, as a part of “Manchild’s” chorus is “F**k my life.”
On live television, especially SNL, the cast members and any new additions try to curb their cussing to avoid incurring a massive fee. The Federal Communications Commission states that from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., it is common courtesy to stay PG, which puts SNL in a tough position overall. Despite all this, Carpenter went through and performed her song as written.
More backlash on this performance comes from the karate-inspired set design, with Carpenter in a short, bedazzled karate robe. This definitely raised eyebrows, including mine, because of the connection between the song and the setting. While smacking men right after they down a shot and have water thrown in their face (a Hurricane Shot) is trending on TikTok to “Nobody’s Son,” it didn’t seem too right for her to be in a karate-type setting until the bridge of the song. Her background dancers were also wearing karate robes, which were acceptable until their shoes. The controversy became heated when Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama shared her opinion.
“But fellow artists’ creative teams… if we are clearly referencing a culture, please can you do so with the research, respect, and care it deserves. Shoes on tatami is jail,” she said.
This episode of Saturday Night Live was full of funny moments and showed off Carpenter’s versatility through multiple sketches and risqué performances. While it may not be entirely her fault, there were some odd things about the episode, including her performance of Nobody’s Son. While Carpenter has not outright responded to any of these opinions, she continues to face her controversy with grace and wit.