Sabrina Carpenter has outgrown her Disney Channel beginnings — and she wants her fans to allow her that growth, too.
The Man’s Best Friend singer first stepped into the spotlight as a child actor, playing Maya Hart on Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World for three seasons. She later appeared in teen-centered films like The Hate U Give and Tall Girl, long before the release of her breakout fifth album Short n’ Sweet. With that 2024 project — and now Man’s Best Friend, which dropped in August — Sabrina has embraced bolder, more suggestive lyrics and imagery, surprising some fans who still see her as the girl from their childhood shows.
In a new interview with Variety, the two-time Grammy winner spoke directly to those who haven’t allowed her to move beyond her Disney past.
“I think it wouldn’t matter so much if I wasn’t a childhood figure for some people,” Carpenter said. “But I also can’t really help that. It’s not my fault that I got a job when I was 12 and you won’t let me evolve.”
The singer also opened up about the female artists she admired growing up—women who openly expressed their sexuality in their music, similar to the way Carpenter does now.
“I always thought, ‘When I grow up, then I get to embrace my sexuality more. I don’t even know what that means yet!'” the “Manchild” artist told Variety. “I don’t think they do. I wish I’d had more open conversations about all of it when I was younger, but people feel too scared to talk about it.”
Carpenter added that she’s set “boundaries” for herself, but wants this chapter of her career to be remembered as a time when she “didn’t hold back.”
“I wore the skirts I wanted to wear; I spoke about things in a way that I won’t regret, because I was very open. I think that’s all that matters,” she said.
