United Kingdom, Sept. 9 -- Sabrina Carpenter was "surprised" by the backlash over the cover art for her album Man's Best Friend.

The 26-year-old pop star released her seventh record last month and it featured a picture of her on all fours standing close to a man who is pulling her hair - and Sabrina admits she didn't expect so many people to be offended by the raunchy shot.

During an interview on NPR, she explained: "I was surprised. I think mostly because when I thought about making this album cover, I was really inspired by a man sort of delicately playing with my hair.

"Because I think there were a lot of metaphors between this dog and me emotionally. You know, a man's best friend and sort of all the implications that that comes wit...