In Could 2021, Olivia Rodrigo related with Taylor Swift throughout her first efficiency on the Brit awards. Just a few days later, she and Swift have been each on set at Saturday Night time Stay. The pair appeared to have a budding friendship, however there was some battle over Rodrigo’s hit “Deja Vu.” Rodrigo re-recorded the melody of Swift’s “Merciless Summer time” relatively than sampling it, and Rodrigo ultimately gave Swift a co-writing credit score and royalties for the brand new music.
Since then, their friendship seems to have cooled and a few followers famous that Rodrigo didn’t attend any reveals from Swift’s Eras Tour, although she has claimed to be an enormous fan of Swift previously. Throughout a brand new interview with The Guardian, Rodrigo was requested in regards to the rumored feud and her music “Vampire,” and whether or not it was about Swift.
Within the music, Rodrigo sings, “Bloodsucker, fame f-cker, bleedin’ me dry like a goddamn vampire!”
In response to a query about whether or not the lyrics have been for Swift, Rodrigo replied, “How do I reply this? I imply, I by no means need to say who any of my songs are about. I’ve by no means accomplished that earlier than in my profession and doubtless gained’t. I feel it’s higher to not pigeonhole a music to being about this one factor.”
She added, “I used to be very stunned when folks thought that.”
Along with the Swift enterprise, Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” and Paramore’s “Distress Enterprise” additionally drew comparisons and the band obtained 50% of the credit and royalties, too. When she was accused of plagiarism, her response on the time was that it was “disappointing to see folks take issues out of context and discredit any younger lady’s work.”
Of that altercation, Rodrigo mentioned, “I used to be so inexperienced as to how the music trade labored, the litigious aspect … I really feel like now I do know a lot extra in regards to the trade and I simply really feel … higher geared up in that regard. It wasn’t one thing I thought of an excessive amount of.”
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and extra. Her first guide, The Lonely Hunter, will probably be launched by Dial Press in February 2022.