Taylor Swift’s “Showgirl” and Charli XCX’s “brat” album covers. Photo Credit: Gracie Murray
Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album “The Life of a Show Girl” on Oct. 3, and listeners were quick to point out a potential diss toward fellow pop star, Charli XCX.
The two singers’ first known interaction was backstage at the 2014 Jingle Ball.
Then, in 2018, Charli opened alongside Camila Cabello for Swift’s “Reputation Tour.” Charli later told Pitchfork about her experience on the tour and stated that she felt like she was “getting up on stage and waving to 5-year-olds.”
Some fans were upset about the singer’s comments, and the British singer promptly clarified that her comments were taken out of context and she was incredibly grateful for the opportunity.
Four years later, in early 2022, Charli began dating her current husband, George Daniel. Daniel is a DJ and drummer for the band “The 1975,” and the two officially married in July 2025.
In the summer of 2023, Swift pursued a short-lived romance with the lead singer of The 1975, Matty Healy. It is speculated that Swift’s album “The Tortured Poet’s Department” is heavily inspired by her time with Healy.
When Charli released her Grammy award-winning album “BRAT” in June 2024, fans were met with electronic beats, party girl anthems and loud dance music. However, the song “Sympathy is a Knife” wasn’t about partying, but complex ideas of comparing oneself to others, imposter syndrome and deep insecurity.
Some lyrics that stood out to listeners were “This one girl taps my insecurities” and “Don’t want to see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show.” Charli’s lyrics also revealed that she felt as though she could never be this mystery girl, even if she tried.
Fans began to speculate who the mystery girl was that Charli was comparing herself to, and eventually settled on Taylor Swift, noting the two singers’ proximity at the time, their stark differences in aesthetic and the fact that Swift and Healy were together during BRAT’s recording.
In late 2024, Charli released a remixed version of BRAT- just before Swift released United Kingdom exclusives of The Tortured Poets Department. This landed Swift a No. 1 spot on the Billboard U.K. charts, leaving Charli at No. 2.
Fans began speculating that this was a deliberate choice by Swift to block Charli from receiving No. 1 status.
Over a year since the release of BRAT, Swift released her 12th studio album “The Life of a Showgirl” on Oct. 3. The album has already stirred mixed reactions.
Swift appears to clap back at Charli with the seventh song on the album, “Actually Romantic.” In the song, she points to a mystery person who hates and obsesses over her, so much so that she sees it as a form of affection.
The song opens with the lyrics, “I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave/ 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.”
These lyrics are what fans believe to be direct references to the speculated drama surrounding Charli and Healy.
“But it’s actually sweet/ All the time you’ve spent on me/ It’s honestly wild/ All the effort you’ve put in/ It’s actually romantic/ I really gotta hand it to you/ No man has ever loved me like you do,” Swift sings in the chorus.
Swift later released the track-by-track version of “The Life of a Showgirl,” in which she goes into depth on the meaning of each song on the album.
“[‘Actually Romantic’ is] about realizing that someone else has kind of had a one-sided adversarial relationship with you that you didn’t know about,” Swift said. “It’s presenting itself as them sort of resenting or having a problem with you, but taking that and you just accepting that as love and… attention and affection.”
Though the popstars have yet to address the alleged “feud,” it does not seem like there is any actual bad blood between them. It all appears to be playful banter to rally fans and drive engagement.
Charli has been posting about her next album and upcoming film projects, and Swift has been doing press tours for her latest album. Perhaps the two will take a page out of Lorde’s book and “work it out on the remix.“