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How Sabrina Carpenter Changed From Disney Kid to Pop Star: ‘She Makes Her Own Rules Now’
Sabrina Carpenter has developed a reputation as a playful flirt with a cheeky sense of humor and an easygoing demeanor. She doesn’t like to be pushed around, though.
While taking a hydration break during her March 14 Short n’ Sweet tour stop in Manchester, England, chants of “chug, chug, chug!” began and turned to boos when she failed to drink every last drop.
Opening her mouth in shock, Sabrina picked her bottle up, polished off its contents and raised her middle finger before delivering a stern warning behind an angelic smile: “Never boo me again!” she scolded the cheering crowd.
Sabrina isn’t afraid to speak her mind — whether it’s reprimanding concert audiences, opening up in interviews about her mental health struggles or penning songs about public feuds.
“For a long time, Sabrina tried to please everyone — she was a Disney kid, so there were a lot of restrictions and expectations, people telling her how she should act,” a source exclusively reveals to Life & Style. “But she makes her own rules now.”
Sabrina Carpenter’s Pop Star Confessions
Though just 25, Sabrina is an industry veteran. She started posting videos of herself singing on YouTube at 9, scored a role on TV’s Girl Meets World at 13, then released five albums — including four on Disney’s Hollywood Records label — while continuing to act in movies like Adventures in Babysitting and Tall Girl. But it was “Espresso,” her 2024 earworm that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart, that skyrocketed the pop star to mainstream fame.
“When Sabrina started trusting and following her own instincts,” says the source, “that’s when things really took off.”
During a Q&A with Interview, Brina had admitted she was “at a really, really low point” ahead of the release of her “sad” 2022 album, Emails I Can’t Send.
As she told Time, though, the singer wanted to “make some mistakes” on the more adult project, which came out on a new label, Island Records: “To go through your life trying to be a little robot angel, you’re going to have a lot of regrets later.”
With August’s platinum-selling Short n’ Sweet, the star’s gambles paid off in a big way, earning her two Grammy wins and a legion of new fans.
“Mistakes lead you to knowing yourself the most,” Sabrina — who was bullied as a child over her passion for music — said in the Interview piece. “What a humbling experience to look back and be like, ‘I’ve changed.’ That’s a really good sign that you’ve lived life the way you should.”
Sabrina Carpenter’s Shock Value
Sabrina’s no longer afraid to be more true to herself. That comes through in the smattering of raunchy lyrics of her hits like “Bed Chem,” “Juno” and “Please, Please, Please” — some of which were reportedly inspired by her on-off romance with Irish actor Barry Keoghan, 32.
“She doesn’t see anything wrong with women enjoying sex,” says the source. “To her, it’s empowering.”
So, when her signature, mid-concert simulated sex positions spark controversy? Sabrina just brushes it off. And instead of shrinking from the spotlight after rumors emerged of her involvement in multiple love triangles — one with Olivia Rodrigo, 22, and Joshua Bassett, 24, and another including Shawn Mendes, 26, and Camila Cabello, 28 — she penned catchy songs like “Skin” and “Taste” about them.
“Sabrina’s not interested in wasting time on negativity,” says the source, insisting she’s actually “very much a girls’ girl who’s all about supporting other female artists.”
One of her biggest supporters has been Taylor Swift. Opening for Taylor, 35, on 25 dates of the “So High School” singer’s record- breaking Eras Tour gave Brina a front-row seat to witness Taylor’s “work ethic,” she told Billboard, explaining that observing her “is how you learn.”
“You just watch her, like, walk in a room and it’s very easy to understand that she’s so composed, she’s graceful, she’s gracious,” Sabrina added on CBS Sunday Morning, saying the most life-changing advice the superstar’s given her hasn’t been “a verbal thing.”
Now the professional feats just keep racking up. Most recently, Brina was named a Lollapalooza 2025 headliner. Not bad for a girl who once told MTV News her “anxiety” sometimes made it feel like she couldn’t “breathe” and called it her “biggest struggle” to Seventeen.
“I go on walks,” she shared with Glamour of her coping mechanisms. “There’s something about enjoying the little things that are really helpful for my mental health.”
Taking time to care for herself allows Sabrina to handle — and shine during — all the big moments.
“Life is so short,” she said to Hunger. “We just have to go for it.”
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