Sabrina Carpenter is an adult. This shouldn’t be a controversial statement, yet her “Short n’ Sweet” tour sparked significant backlash, with complaints centered around her outfits, choreography and lyrics being “too sexy” and “too vulgar”. However, the issue for many isn’t her mature lyrics, it’s the fact that she used to be on Disney. A portion of her audience was first introduced to her as Maya Hart on “Girl Meets World, ” and many fans expected her to remain frozen in that version of herself forever. But Carpenter isn’t playing a character anymore; she’s a 24-year-old artist fully in control of her own image, yet some fans act as though they have a say in how she presents herself.
A large part of the backlash also stems from parents who are upset that Carpenter is no longer a “child-friendly” artist for their kids. But it’s not her job to stay family-friendly just because some parents still associate her with their child’s childhood. Like any other performer, she is making music and putting on a show for her target audience, not babysitting someone else’s kids. If parents are looking for age-appropriate entertainment, it’s their responsibility to navigate, not hers. Expecting Carpenter to cater to children forever just because of her Disney past is not only unreasonable but also unfairly limits her growth, both in maturity and in her career.
There have been similar reactions with stars like Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez, whose transitions into adulthood were met with outrage from fans who felt betrayed by the shift. The core of this backlash may be the sense of entitlement and parasocial relationship many fans have towards celebrities. Some fans believe they “know” Carpenter because they grew up watching her, and therefore, they feel ownership over her image. But nostalgia isn’t a justification for policing someone’s adulthood. The real question isn’t whether her performances are “too sexy,” it’s why certain fans still refuse to see her as the adult she is.