Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift met in May 2021 when Rodrigo performed at the Brit Awards. She and Swift were on set together a few days later. Saturday Night Live. The pair seemed to have a budding friendship, but there was some conflict over Rodrigo’s hit “Deja Vu.” Rodrigo re-recorded the melody of Swift’s “Cruel Summer” rather than sampling it, and Rodrigo eventually gave Swift a co-writing credit and royalties for the new song.
Since then their friendship seems to have cooled. Fans noted that Rodrigo has not attended any shows on Swift’s Eras Tour despite claiming to be Swift’s biggest fan. During a brand new interview with The Guardian, Rodrigo was asked about the rumored feud and her song “Vampire,” and whether it was about Swift.
In the song, Rodrigo sings, “Bloodsucker, fame f-cker, bleedin’ me dry like a goddamn vampire!”
In response to a question about whether the lyrics were for Swift, Rodrigo replied, “How do I answer this? I don’t want to reveal the subject of any of my lyrics. 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.”
She added, “I was very surprised when people thought that.”
In addition to the Swift business, Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” and Paramore’s “Misery Business” also drew comparisons and the band received 50% of the credits and royalties, too. When she was accused of plagiarism, her response at the time was that it was “disappointing to see people take things out of context and discredit any young woman’s work.”
Of that altercation, Rodrigo said, “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.”
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writings have appeared in Jezebel Glamour Marie Claire. Her first novel, The Lonely Hunter Dial Press will release the book in February 2022.