Sabrina Carpenter Delivers the Perfect Clapback to Critic Mocking Her Height and ‘Manchild’ Lyrics
Sabrina Carpenter might stand at a diminutive 4’11”, but she certainly isn’t afraid to stand her ground. On Tuesday, March 17, the pop sensation took to X (formerly Twitter) to address a critic who took issue with the biting lyrics of her Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper, “Manchild.”
The online friction began when a user under the handle @uncledoomer attempted to mock the singer’s stature in relation to her music’s themes. “Women are always like ‘men are useless’ but Sabrina Carpenter is like 4 foot 11, she can’t even climb into a mid-size SUV without help,” the post read. The remark was a direct reaction to a viral clip of Carpenter’s electrifying performance at Lollapalooza Argentina on Sunday, March 15.
In the footage, which has amassed hundreds of thousands of views, Carpenter leads a massive crowd in a spirited call-and-response during the song’s pre-chorus. “What do you call it?” she prompts the audience. “Stupid!” they roar back. “Or is it?” she teases, to which they respond, “Slow!” Finally, she asks, “Well maybe it’s…” allowing the 100,000-strong crowd to thunderously chant, “Useless!”
While the video was shared with a caption highlighting the sheer volume of people calling men “useless,” Carpenter chose to ignore the broad generalization and focus on the jab regarding her height. Rather than engaging in a lengthy debate, she shut down the skeptic with a succinct, three-word retort: “Yes i can ?”
“Yes i can ?”
— Sabrina Carpenter (@SabrinaAnnLynn)
The response immediately exploded in popularity, garnering over 735,000 likes in less than 24 hours. Her loyal fanbase was equally quick to jump to her defense, clarifying the intent behind the lyrics. One fan noted, “She didn’t [say] men are useless, she’s talking about the ‘manchild’ in the song being useless. But if you got identified… Oh well.”
This isn’t the first time the “Espresso” singer has used her social media platform to voice her disapproval. Last December, Carpenter made headlines when she publicly condemned the White House for featuring her track “Juno” in a video depicting ICE raids. She labeled the use of her music “evil and disgusting,” explicitly stating that her art should never be used to promote an “inhumane agenda.” Following her viral rebuke, which earned nearly 2 million likes, the video was promptly removed from the official White House account.
