Taylor Swift released her new album The Life of a Showgirl on October 3rd, and the initial fan reaction was very mixed. Some fans love anything she puts out, but other fans argue that it lacks the depth her previous albums had.
One of the songs on the album, “Actually Romantic,” has stirred up talk on social media that it might be directed towards singer Charli XCX. Many fans did not know there was potential tension between the two singers, so where did it start?
Swift and Charli were first photographed at the 2014 Jingle Ball concert and since then, they have had a professional relationship. Charli even performed with Swift at one of the shows on her 1989 tour and opened for the Reputation tour in 2018 with Camilla Cabelo.
Charli did make a comment during that time that it felt like she was “getting up on stage and waving to 5-year-olds,” but said she made that comment because she was used to performing in 18+ clubs for a period of time. She went on to post on X that she was so grateful to perform with Taylor and didn’t mean anything by the comment.
Charli and Taylor are also connected through their relationship with the 1975. Charli XCX recently got married to drummer of the band, George Daniel, and Taylor has a short-lived relationship with frontman of the band, Matty Healy.
In 2024, Charli released her album Brat, and fans believed one of the songs, “Sympathy is a knife,” is about Swift, with lyrics like” Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back, I hope they break up quick.” The song dives deeper into her insecurities about not being a successful artist, but many believe this was directed towards Taylor, as she was still dating Matty Healy at the time.
Fans were quick to defend Charli, posting on social media and chanting at concerts “Taylor is dead.” Charli was quick to shut this hate down on social media saying, “it disturbs me that anyone would think there is room for this in this community.” In an interview in August 2024, Taylor praised Charli for her new album and her musicality.
Now, fans speculate that “Actually Romantic” is a diss at Charli. Although the meaning of the song has not been confirmed, Taylor revealed in a Track-by-Track Version on Amazon Prime Video that she got her inspiration from someone with a one-sided hate for her and that it’s “actually pretty romantic when you think about it.” With this inspiration, she wrote lyrics like, “High-fived my ex and then you said you’re glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face,” potentially referring to “Sympathy is a knife.”
Did you know about this beef before “Actually Romantic” was released? Let us know your thoughts on this drama and your thoughts on Taylor’s new album!
Until then,
Bridget :)