Nancy Cartwright's Connection to Sabrina Carpenter and Her Role in Launching Her Career

Nancy Cartwright is finally clearing up one of pop culture’s most surprising family connections — and yes, it does involve Sabrina Carpenter.

The legendary voice actress, best known for bringing Bart Simpson to life on The Simpsons, has long been rumored to be the aunt of the “Espresso” singer for years. Now, Nancy is setting the record straight and explaining how she played a small role in Sabrina’s rise to fame.

While appearing on the “Toon’d In! with Jim Cummings” podcast, Nancy was asked point-blank if Sabrina is really her niece. Her answer? “Yes and no.”

“Well, she’s not a blood relative,” Nancy explained in the episode, which was posted Friday, January 9. “My grandmother was married to my dad so her dad was my step brother.”

Still, the family bond runs deep — and Nancy says she’s known Sabrina since she was just a little kid.

“I met her when she was 8. [Her] folks brought the three girls out to my house and they stayed with us,” she recalled, referring to Sabrina and her older sisters, Sarah and Shannon. From the very beginning, Nancy says Sabrina knew exactly what she wanted.

“Her dream was to do everything Disney,” she continued. “She wanted a Disney contract and she said ‘I want to do that’ since she was 6 years old.”

According to Nancy, Sabrina’s dad was already helping nurture her talent early on. “Her dad produced her in videos,” she said. “Her voice — this little gal could really do it.”

Nancy revealed that Sabrina and her family would stay with her regularly during pilot season in Hollywood. “They would come out every year and stay with me and they lived with me for four months at a time during pilot season,” she explained. During that time, Nancy helped her get connected in the industry.

“I helped her get management, agent — but you know, not to take the credit for it,” Nancy added. “But something I had no problem doing. But she needed to hold her own. She needed to hold her own, obviously.”

And hold her own she did.

“And this little gal — she sings, she dances, she writes,” Nancy said proudly. “She will be an EGOT one day, she can do it all.”

Though Nancy gave Sabrina what she calls “a little boost,” she made it clear that her success is entirely her own. “She certainly doesn’t need my help,” she said. “I gave her a little boost and she ran with it and I’m very proud of her.”

This isn’t the first time Nancy has spoken publicly about their connection. In July 2024, fans were stunned when she confirmed the relationship on TikTok after being asked if she and Sabrina were related.

“Yeah! Absolutely!” Nancy said at the time. “Isn’t that amazing?”

She added, “Maybe you’ve known me for a little while, doing this little 10-year-old boy for 35 some years … and find out that I’m related to this superstar.”

As Nancy summed it up perfectly: “She’s pretty amazing.”