Taylor Swift and Charli XCX’s rumored feud has turn out to be probably the most fascinating subplots in trendy popular culture. With the discharge of Taylor’s twelfth studio album, The Lifetime of a Showgirl, followers are satisfied the observe “Truly Romantic” is a response to the Brat singer’s track “Sympathy Is a Knife.” So, what precisely occurred between the 2 pop divas?
Right here’s a full breakdown of Taylor Swift and Charli XCX’s rumored feud through the years:
The Early Days: From Tourmates to Rigidity
In December 2014, Taylor and Charli posed collectively at iHeart Radio’s Jingle Ball in New York, throughout a peak pop period that noticed “Increase Clap” and 1989 dominate the airwaves. By March 2018, Charli joined Taylor as one of many opening acts on the Popularity Stadium Tour, together with Camila Cabello — a significant co-sign that cemented their public friendship.
However only a 12 months later, in August 2019, cracks started to point out. In an interview with Pitchfork, Charli made remarks about Taylor’s tour audiences that didn’t sit nicely with Swifties.
“I’m actually grateful that she requested me on that tour,” she mentioned, “however as an artist, it form of felt like I used to be getting up onstage and waving to five-year-olds.”
She went on to say the expertise satisfied her by no means to open for an additional artist once more. Later that day, Charli clarified on Twitter: “Individuals on the web have taken one thing I mentioned out of context.”
“As I say within the article and have mentioned many instances earlier than, I’m extraordinarily grateful to Taylor for inviting me to open for her. She’s one of many largest artists of my technology and the Popularity tour was one of many largest excursions in historical past.”
A month later, Charli gushed about Taylor throughout an look on Sunday Brunch: “She’s an unbelievable businesswoman and she or he’s actually variety. She makes us really feel, like, so welcome. It appears like a woman gang on tour collectively, it’s actually good,” she mentioned.
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – JULY 22: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO STANDALONE PUBLICATION USE (NO SPECIAL INTEREST OR SINGLE ARTIST PUBLICATION USE; NO BOOK USE)) (L-R) Charli XCX, Taylor Swift, and Camila Cabello carry out onstage in the course of the Taylor Swift popularity Stadium Tour at MetLife Stadium on July 22, 2018 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Picture by Kevin Mazur/TAS18/Getty Photographs for TAS)
Overlapping Romances and ‘Sympathy Is a Knife’
In January 2023, Taylor made a shock look at The 1975’s London present to carry out “The Metropolis” and debut “Anti-Hero.” Only a week later, Charli appeared at one other 1975 live performance, performing “Vroom Vroom.” A couple of months later, Taylor briefly dated The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy, whereas Charli was courting (and later married) the band’s drummer, George Daniel — setting the stage for lyrical hypothesis.
By June 2024, Charli launched her album BRAT, which included the observe “Sympathy Is a Knife.” Followers theorized the track referenced Taylor, pointing to lyrics like: “I couldn’t even be her if I attempted” and “This one woman faucets my insecurities / Don’t know if it’s actual or if I’m spiralling.”
Theories centered on a verse portray the scene at a 1975 present: “Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s present / Fingers crossed behind my again, I hope they break up fast.”
When requested concerning the hypothesis in an August 2024 New York Journal cowl story, Charli performed it cool: “Persons are gonna suppose what they need to suppose,” she mentioned. “That track is about me and my emotions and my nervousness and the best way my mind creates narratives and tales in my head after I really feel insecure and the way I don’t need to be in these conditions bodily after I really feel self-doubt.”
Curiously, Taylor additionally participated in the identical piece, praising Charli’s expertise.
“I’ve been blown away by Charli’s melodic sensibilities since I first heard ‘Keep Away’ in 2011,” Taylor mentioned. “Her writing is surreal and ingenious, at all times. She simply takes a track to locations you wouldn’t count on it to go, and she or he’s been doing it constantly for over a decade. I like to see laborious work like that repay.”
‘Truly Romantic’ Sparks New Fan Theories
Quick ahead to October 2025, when Taylor dropped The Lifetime of a Showgirl. Followers instantly honed in on the seventh observe, “Truly Romantic,” which many, together with The Guardian and The Los Angeles Instances, consider is a tongue-in-cheek response to Charli’s BRAT period and her track “All the pieces Is Romantic. The lyrics depict somebody who “can’t cease considering” about Taylor whereas throwing shade, together with traces like:
“I heard you name me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s bought you courageous / Excessive-fived my ex and then you definitely mentioned you’re glad he ghosted me.”
In a observe breakdown for Amazon Music, Taylor described the track as being about “realizing that another person has form of had a one-sided adversarial relationship with you that you simply didn’t find out about… and it’s flattering that any person has made such a giant a part of their actuality whenever you didn’t even take into consideration this.”
