Sympathy is a knife—and Charli XCX may be sharpening hers. On October 4, the 33-year-old pop star shared a clip that has fans bracing for more Taylor Swift discourse.
In case you haven’t listened to this year’s most-streamed album in a single day on Spotify or been on the internet over the weekend, here’s a brief rundown on what you need to know: Back in the summer of 2023, Swift briefly dated Matty Healy who is in The 1975 with Charli XCX’s husband, George Daniel. A year later, Charlie XCX released the Brat track “Sympathy is a Knife,” which grapples with her insecurities over the success of another female artist in close proximity.
“Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show,” she sings on the track. “Fingers crossed behind my back, I hope they break up quick.” Another line from the song:
At the time, Taylor Swift publicly praised Charli XCX for the success of the album, but fans of both artists think her new song, “Actually Romantic,” reveals bad blood. For example, Swift sings that her subject “wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face” and “high-fived my ex and then you said you’re glad he ghosted me.”
There seem to be more connections between the two songs, which you can read about here.
Reaction to the supposed diss track have been mixed, with some criticizing Swift for “missing the point” of “Sympathy Is a Knife,” while others have defended Swift, suggesting there’s more to the pop stars’ complicated history than a single song. You can read about all that here.
Now that you’re all caught up, let’s get to the update. On October 5, Charli XCX posted an image of a recording studio alongside five seconds of sharp, ominous audio. She didn’t add any more context, simply captioning the post with a heart.
While she could be working on an unrelated project, the timing of this post sent fans on both sides into a frenzy, with many convinced Charli is preparing to drop a response to “Actually Romantic.” And while some seem excited about the prospect of a “Diva off,” as one TikTok commenter put it, another theory is also popping up.
“Here me out, what if they’re both in on it?” one fan commented on a TikTok video about Charli’s recent post. Another replied, “At this point that’s what I thought.” A third chimed in, “This would be so epic.”
Back in June 2024, Charli XCX released a remix of the Brat track, “Girl, So Confusing” featuring the song’s original subject, Lorde. After listening to the original version, Lorde wanted to add her own perspective and the pair were able to clear up their misunderstandings and release an incredibly moving remix of the song in the process.
Now, some fans are hoping Swift and Charli will do something similar. As one fan commented on TikTok, “They need to work it out on the remix cause I’m not picking sides.”
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