I think it’s safe to say that we were all invested on what went down between #1 streaming artist of 2021, Olivia Rodrigo and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star, Joshua Bassett.
From the moment that HSMTMTS first landed in Disney+, it did not go unnoticed by fans that there was a certain chemistry between these two young actors. Although never officially confirmed, many speculated that there was way more than a good friendship that occurred.
After all of the hype from the show died down, the next thing we heard was Olivia Rodrigo’s new song “Driver’s License”, which fans assumed was about her break-up with Joshua Bassett. Not only did this song begin the spurs of what happened between the two co-stars, but later in 2021, when Rodrigo released her debut album Sour, fans were convinced that Joshua Bassett completely broke her heart. This time, many took it to social media to state their opinion on their relationship, with the majority siding with Rodrigo without hearing Bassett’s side.
Now, a couple of months later, we finally have what Bassett thinks about the entire situation. Bassett released a three-song EP on December 3, 2021, that revealed quite a bit about his side of the relationship. The first song, “Crisis”, states that he “didn’t want to write this” but he felt like he needed to say the truth. He explains how he was portrayed as the “bad guy” and that she messed with his life only for it to be a “career move”. Throughout the song, Bassett continues to make shady remarks that have us questioning what really happened with their relationship. He continues to sing lyrics like, “Weren’t you the one who left in the first place?” and, “Half the s**t your saying’s only half true”. Which gives us a very different perspective on the whole situation.
In his next song, “Secret”, Bassett alludes to Rodrigo cheating on him while they were together and even goes as far to use on of the titles of her song as one of his song lyrics. He says, “Good for you for foolin’ everyone”, referencing the song on Rodrigo’s album entitled “good 4 u”. He continues to make jabs at Rodrigo by claiming that “When your ‘woe is me’ stops workin’ I bet your songs won’t sound the same”.
His last song is entitled, “Set Me Free” which addresses more of the emotional aspect of what Bassett has dealt with all year. He acknowledges that he did in fact hurt her but does not understand why he had to be put down in order to make her feel okay. He says in the song that he still cares about her but “[she’s] not the love that I fell for” and “I don’t recognize you, not anymore” ending with that he just wants to be set free.
Now that Bassett has stated his truth, what do you think about Joshua’s perspective on the situation and their relationship?