Sabrina Carpenter is the perfect example of a slow burn to superstardom. Before skyrocketing to global pop star fame, Carpenter had already starred in several TV shows and movies. Then, she dominated 2024 with her song “Espresso” and the album it belonged to, Short n’ Sweet. Since then, she’s topped the chart with her other singles, earned multiple Grammy Awards, and has become one of the most popular musicians of the past decade. But things haven’t always come easily to her. From family deaths to mental health breakdowns and death threats, here are all the most tragic moments of this pop star’s life.
She was a victim of bullying for her quirkiness
Before she hit her teens, Sabrina Carpenter had her own YouTube channel and earned roles in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and The Goodwin Games. She was bullied for singing at school, but her parents weren’t pushy, so they served as a refuge and allowed her to enroll in online school instead.
A blow to her confidence after a major heartbreak
In her 2022 song “Tornado Warnings,” she wrote: “I think he’s onto me every time I say, ‘I’m over that son of a b***h’ / I’m lying to my therapist.” While we don’t know who it’s about, it was supposedly inspired by her first devastating heartbreak. She said on The Zane Lowe Show that it made her second-guess herself all the time and led to an intense period of grief.
She deals with severe anxiety
In her LP Singular: Act II, she opened up about her mental health battles, like panic attacks and having difficulty breathing, but admitted to MTV in an interview that she was reluctant to open up about it due to fear people would think she was complaining.
Her close friend Cameron Boyce passed away
In 2019, Cameron Boyce died from an epileptic seizure at the young age of 20. The two were close friends, and Carpenter wrote in her eulogy, “You are something extraordinarily special, Cam. I cannot grasp what a world without you looks like yet, nor do I want to. Nothing I can write will feel right, or pay enough tribute to how incredible you actually are, but all I know is I am so beyond lucky to have known you and eternally grateful for the times you and I shared together.”
She’s received death threats
When Olivia Rodrigo released “drivers license” in 2021, it hinted that her ex Joshua Bassett cheated on her with an older blonde. Some believed that Sabrina Carpenter was the home-wrecker, and while she never admitted involvement, she got death threats. On her song because I liked a boy, she sang, “Now I’m a homewrecker, / I got death threats filling up semi-trucks.”
Her grandfather died
In 2020, Carpenter’s grandfather passed away. The two were very close, and she called him “the silliest most loving soul who supported me through everything.” Sharing some heartwarming photos of the two together on social media, she shared, “My heart hurts immensely. I will miss [you] forever. I promise we’ll take good care of [grandma] here. [Love] ya.”
Her grandma passed away as well
Tragically, just two years after her grandpa’s passing, her grandma also passed away. In a tribute post on IG, she commended her grandma for always honing in on the details and making each person she interacted with feel important and special. She talked about how her grandmother gave her “so much authentic genuine love” throughout her life and was the singer’s “biggest fan.”
A bomb threat led her to cancel a show
In 2022, a Portland show she was headlining got a credible bomb threat seconds before she came on stage. She was heartbroken that she had to cancel her show after the anonymous call that led to the bomb threat being issued at the Crystal Ballroom.
Her ex, Barry Keoghan, may have cheated on her
These two had a major age gap, but that didn’t stop them from starting their love story. But this hot new couple soon broke up after cheating rumors came out. While the split was supposedly amicable and due to a desire to focus on their careers, many say that the true reason was Keoghan’s inability to be a one-woman man.
She was accused of lip-syncing
No star wants to be accused of lip-syncing, and when a TikTok user posted an image of her singing with the caption, “Hate to say it but 30% lip singing, 30% backing track, 40% singing,” Carpenter was horrified and clapped back, commenting, “I sing live at every show 100%. Would you like to speak to my audio engineers?”
A firework hit her on stage
Carpenter was struck by a firework at the Outside Lands festival in 2025. She screamed and ran off the stage—some reports even claimed she was struck on the chest, but luckily, she seemed to be ok after the incident and continued the concert like a pro.
Sabrina Carpenter’s album cover was highly criticized and received backlash
The singer’s album Man’s Best Friend features a suggestive cover. She was positioned on all fours as she rested her hand on the leg of a man in a suit grabbing her hair tightly. The Guardian called it “degrading.” The New York Post said it was an “amazingly regressive message from a supposed girl-power icon.”
