Sabrina Carpenter was the host and musical guest on last night’s (October 18) episode of Saturday Night Live, where she performed songs from her new album Man’s Best Friend. Dressed in SNL-themed underwear, Carpenter sang the single “Manchild” into a hairbrush; later, she donned a gi and did some karate for the album track “Nobody’s Son.” Carpenter also starred in sketches throughout the evening as a 12-year-old boy podcast host, a girlboss motivational speaker who suffers a head injury, and a singing washing machine.
In her opening monologue, Carpenter addressed the controversy around the Man’s Best Friend album cover. “What people don’t realize is that’s just how they cropped it,” she joked. “If you zoom out it’s clearly a picture from the [Saturday Night Live] 50th anniversary special of Bowen [Yang] helping me up by the hair after Martin Short shoved me out of the buffet line, saying something like ‘Daddy need his mini quiche.’” Carpenter also touched on her brand as a “horndog popstar”—“I’m not just horny, I’m also turned on, and sexually charged”—did some sexually charged crowd work, and was nearly arrested by Keenan Thompson. Watch Carpenter’s full speech and performances, plus her SNL promo video with cast member Marcello Hernandez, below.
Last night marked Carpenter’s third appearance on Saturday Night Live—fourth if you count her cameo in this year’s Quinta Brunson-hosted episode. She first stopped by Studio 8H as musical guest on the heels of her 2024 album Short n’ Sweet, and was a part of SNL50: The Anniversary Special, where she performed a duet of the Simon & Garfunkel song “Homeward Bound” alongside Paul Simon. On Thursday, Carpenter will kick off a run of North American arena shows, with stops in Pittsburgh, New York, Nashville, Toronto, and Los Angeles.
Season 51 of Saturday Night Live premiered on October 4. The season debut was hosted by Bad Bunny, with Doja Cat serving as musical guest. After taking this week off, SNL’s next three episodes are set to feature Miles Teller and Brandi Carlile, Nikki Glaser and Sombr, and Glen Powell and Olivia Dean, respectively.
Read about “Manchild” in “20 Contenders for the 2025 Song of the Summer.”