On October 18, 2025, Sabrina Carpenter stepped into the spotlight at Saturday Night Live in New York, pulling double duty as both host and musical guest. She performed two songs from her latest album, Man’s Best Friend — the lead single “Manchild” and the emotionally charged album track “Nobody’s Son.”

For “Manchild,” Carpenter danced around Studio 8H wearing yellow T-shirt and pink underwear, singing into a hairbrush as though it were a mic and leaning into a bedroom-themed staging. Later, during “Nobody’s Son,” the set transformed into a dojo-style scene, complete with a gleaming gi for Carpenter and choreographed martial artists. After the performance she commented on social media that the “Manchild” set-up “has to be the most fun performance of Manchild I’ve gotten to do so far… singing into a hairbrush from here on out 💖.”

In her opening monologue she addressed controversy surrounding the album cover art, quipping that the image was simply poorly cropped. “What people don’t realize is that’s just how they cropped it,” she said. “If you zoom out it’s clearly a picture from the SNL 50th anniversary special…” She followed that with self-aware humour, embracing her “horn-dog popstar” image: “I’m not just horny, I’m also turned on and I’m sexually charged.”

The episode added to Carpenter’s growing list of SNL appearances; this marked her third time on the show in a full guest-role capacity. The performance arrives just as she prepares to head out on a North American tour, hitting cities like New York, Los Angeles and Toronto in early 2026.

While the show earned praise for its creativity, it also drew criticism. British-Japanese artist Rina Sawayama singled out the “Nobody’s Son” dojo scene for shoes worn on what appeared to be traditional tatami mats, calling it culturally insensitive.

“Shoes on tatami is jail,” she posted.

The reaction adds a layer of conversation about performance and representation, even as Carpenter’s set confirmed her status as an artist willing to mix spectacle with personal storytelling. Whether fans focus on the set pieces, the bold monologue or the songs themselves, there’s no denying that this SNL week is a telling moment in her career.