Sabrina Carpenter and Dolly Parton have teamed up for a country rendition of Please Please Please—with the music video featuring a subtle reference to Carpenter’s ex, Barry Keoghan.
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The track was included in the deluxe edition of Carpenter’s album Short n’ Sweet, which was released on Valentine’s Day.
Sabrina Carpenter and Dolly Parton have teamed up for a special collaboration!
On Friday, February 14, Carpenter, 25, released a country-infused version of her 2024 hit Please Please Please as part of the deluxe edition of her album Short n’ Sweet, which also dropped on Valentine’s Day.
Partnering with Parton, 79, the duo reimagined the pop track with a country twist and filmed a vintage-inspired music video that appears to reference Carpenter’s ex, actor Barry Keoghan.
Keoghan, 32, starred in the original Please Please Please music video while the two were dating. That version depicted the couple beginning a relationship after being released from jail, only for Keoghan’s character to relapse into crime. After his arrest, Carpenter’s character takes control—handcuffing him to a chair, taping his mouth shut, and leaving him behind in an empty warehouse after planting a kiss on him.
In the new video, Carpenter and Parton take off in a truck, singing together before Parton hands Carpenter a shovel while she stands in the truck bed. As the police pursue them, the camera reveals a man, handcuffed in the back of the truck with a sack over his head, wearing the same outfit Keoghan sported in the original video—a clear nod to their past.
The video, filmed in Nashville according to a press release obtained by PEOPLE, concludes with Carpenter pulling over and shaking her head as the restrained figure in the back desperately bangs on the truck and attempts to scream.
The new version of the song also includes a lyric change, with Carpenter and Parton alternating vocals on the line, “I beg you, don’t embarrass me, like the others,” replacing the original explicit version. When Please Please Please was first released, fans speculated that its lyrics contained playful nods to Saltburn star Barry Keoghan, including the pointed line, “I heard that you’re an actor, so act like a stand-up guy.”
Carpenter and Keoghan were in an on-and-off relationship for about a year before choosing to take a break, PEOPLE reported in December 2024. “They are both young and focused on their careers, so they’ve decided to step back for now,” a source shared with the outlet.
The former couple made their red carpet debut at the 2024 Met Gala.