Sabrina Carpenter Says Her Exes Are ‘Pretty Flattered’ by Her Songs Whether ‘Good or Bad’

THE RUNDOWN

• Sabrina Carpenter shared that she writes songs about ex-boyfriends.
• The star has been connected to Barry Keoghan and Shawn Mendes.
• She addressed fan reactions to her lyrics.

On Friday, Sabrina Carpenter shared how her music and her relationships are often intertwined—but no one she dates seems to mind.

While discussing her newest album, Man’s Best Friend, on CBS Mornings, the musical artists shared that she tries to be “pretty transparent” in her relationships about her work and that she believes her exes feel “flattered” when she writes a song about them.

“I feel pretty transparent going into any of my relationships, that I write songs and I think they’re just as down for it,” she admitted. “I think it’s also, most of the time, they’ve been pretty flattered when I—when they get a song written about them, good or bad.”

She would not name names, however, adding, “It’s more fun for people to picture in their head than the person I picture in my head, I think.”

Carpenter was most recently linked to actor Barry Keoghan, who appeared in her music video for “Please Please Please” as a love interest. She has also been linked in the past to pop star Shawn Mendes.

During the interview, Carpenter also reflected on how fans respond to her music and to the critics.

“You don’t have to like what I do,” she said. “I think there’s this weird misconception that every artist has to check every box for everyone to like everything about them.”

She continued, “The album is not for any pearl clutchers. No, but I, I also think that even pearl clutchers can listen to an album like that in their own solitude and find something that makes them smirk and chuckle to themselves.”

In her opinion, the playful or sexual lyrics are “just fun.”

“I think that’s the thing, is sometimes people hear the lyrics that are really bold or they go, ‘I don’t want to sing this in front of other people.’ It’s like it’s almost too it, it, it’s TMI,” Carpenter explained. “But I think about being at a concert with, you know, however many young women I see in the front row that are screaming at the top of their lungs with their best friends. And you can go like, ‘Oh, we can all, like, sigh of relief like, ‘This is just fun.’ And, and that’s all it has to be.”