Olivia Rodrigo Addresses Rumoured Feud With Taylor Swift

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When Olivia Rodrigo had her meteoric rise to global fame, comparisons were quickly drawn to Taylor Swift. And neither seemed to mind. Olivia helped Taylor promote her re-records, Taylor gave Olivia a shout-out when her single, Drivers License, reached number one, and the two met up at the Brit Awards, celebrating together.

But in recent years, fans have noticed some distance between the women, beginning when Olivia’s single Deja Vu was compared to Taylor’s Cruel Summer, which ended with Olivia giving Tay 50% of the credits and royalties for the track. Fans noticed that the singers weren’t as close in recent years, and speculated that Olivia’s single of her second album, Vampire was about Taylor.

The song chronicles a young star being used for her fame, and while it was widely believed to be about the 20-year-old’s reported ex-boyfriend, Adam Faz, some fans think certain lines might be referencing Taylor as well.

 

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Neither Taylor or Olivia addressed the perceived tension, until now that is, as Olivia was asked about the situation during her latest interview.

Speaking with The Guardian, Olivia was asked about the speculation regarding Vampire referencing Taylor. Replying: “How do I answer this?

“I mean, I never want to say who any of my songs are about. I’ve never done that before in my career and probably won’t. I think it’s better to not pigeonhole a song to being about this one thing.

“I was very surprised when people thought that.”

 

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The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star also opened up about the song-credit issues. At the time, Olivia voiced her disappointment in how the narrative was being interpreted.

Taylor was given 50% of the credits and royalties for Deja Vu, while Paramore received the same after comparisons between their track Misery Business, and Liv’s Good 4 U. However, other artists defended Olivia, with Elvis Costello standing up for her, when his song Pump It Up was compared to Olivia’s Brutal. Writing on Twitter, he said: “It’s how rock and roll works, you take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy.”

But looking back on the situation, Olivia explained how unprepared for the music industry she was at the beginning of her career.

“I was so green as to how the music industry worked, the litigious side, I feel like now I know so much more about the industry and I just feel better equipped in that regard. It wasn’t something I thought about too much,” she said.

 

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The starlet also spoke about her spectacular rise to fame as a pop star at just 17-years-old, admitting that she feels conflicted about the identity of a pop star.

“There’s such an archetype of what a ‘pop star’ should be, I never really thought of myself as that, it’s the term that people throw around. Things you should wear and do and how you should be accessible at all times. And ‘date this person and do that’.”

When asked if she watch controversial series The Idol, the Californian girl shared her thoughts, saying: “I don’t have the desire to. I remember walking out of Barbie and being like, ‘Wow, it’s so long since I’ve seen a movie that is female-centred in a way that isn’t sexual or about her pain or her being traumatised.’”

• Olivia Rodrigo
• Taylor Swift