Carly Simon 'Playing Possum' Album Cover Is Similar To Sabrina Carpenter's - Here's Why The Veteran Artist Is Defending It

As 'You're So Vain' singer Carly Simon defends Sabrina Carpenter's new album cover, we're reminded of a similar cover for her album 'Playing Possum' that came out 50 years ago.

Like Carpenter, Simon's cover shows her on her knees, sparking a fiery debate over its appropriateness.

Now, the 81-year-old is defending an artist born nearly 25 years after her controversial album was released for similar accusations of conforming to the male gaze.

'She's not doing anything outrageous,' Simon said in an interview with Rolling Stone. 'It seems tame.'

'Playing Possum' Cover Was Unplanned

Simon didn't plan on using a photo of her kneeling on the ground in black lingerie for the cover of 'Playing Possum.'

She was in a dressing room putting her clothes back on after a photoshoot in LA when she heard Isaac Hayes' Theme from Shaft playing in the studio.

'I loved that song, so I ran out and started dancing to it,' she told Rolling Stone. She was getting up off the floor after lying on her back when the iconic photo of her on her knees was taken.

'I'm looking at these shots, and I go, "Well, here's a shot that's got some kind of energy to it." The head's cut off. She was in movement from being on the floor to standing up, and she's got this clenched fist,' Simon said.

'No one thought about what it might convey. It was a fascinating, unique image and it left a lot to the imagination,' she added.

Fans and Feminists Argued Over The Cover's Message

Of course, this spurred a heated debate over the provocative photos message.

Simon was in a department store shortly after the release of the album when a woman who had apparently seen the cover approached her.

'What were you thinking,' she reportedly asked. 'Voices were raised,' Simon recalled.

The albums controversial cover had Sears department store considering refusing to sell it, and the image became so iconic that the negligee Simon wears in the cover was hung up in her exhibit when she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

'Man's Best Friend' Controversy

50 years later, Sabrina Carpenter is facing similar backlash for the cover of her unreleased album, 'Man's Best Friend.'

The 26-year-old former Disney star poses kneeling in a black mini dress, her hand on the knee of an anonymous suit-cladded man who's grabbing her hair.

Carpenter is no stranger to making racy choices with her music.

She went viral for the iconic moments in her Short n' Sweet tour where in every show, she would pose in a different sex position during her song 'Juno.'

However, this most recent risque choice has left fans divided about whether the singer is owning her sexuality or conforming to the male gaze.

'This cover makes me uncomfortable... especially in times like these. Absolutely tone deaf,' one fan commented on Sabrina's Instagram post announcing her new album. Her comment received over 28,000 likes.

'Explain to me again how this isn't centering men? How this isn't catering to the male gaze?' another comment with nearly 50,000 likes read.

Another fan commented 'Romanticizing violence. Well done 🙄'

Carly Simon Argues It's By No Means The Most Racy Cover

Rushing to her fellow singers' defence, Simon argued that there are plenty of other artists who have put out much racier covers than Carpenters.

'There have been far flashier covers than hers. One of the most startling covers I've ever seen was [The Rolling Stones'] "Sticky Fingers."' She told Rolling Stone. 'That was out there in terms of sexual attitude. So I don't know why she's getting such flak.'

While some argue that Carpenter's album is degrading and even makes a mockery of domestic violence, others say Carpenter has a right to present herself as submissive.

'Carpenter on all fours rubs against the prevailing rhetoric of female sexual empowerment – "be on top", "have sex like a man", "call the shots,"' said Arts writer for The Guardian, Adrian Horton.

She added, 'To be submissive and strong at once is to break some brains, the idiosyncrasies and confidence of one woman's sexual performance inflaming the chronic poster's allergy to fun, as well as the internet's incentive for black-and-white thinking.'

No matter what side of the fence fans sit on, it's undeniable that sex sells, and it's sure got us talking about Carpenters upcoming album.