Why Olivia Rodrigo Fans Think Her Song "The Grudge" Is About an Alleged Feud With Taylor Swift
Fans are convinced that this relationship has gone sour—and now there might be further proof.
After Olivia Rodrigo released "The Grudge" on Sept. 8, listeners immediately picked up that it alludes to a supposed feud between the 20-year-old and Taylor Swift.
"I have nightmares each week 'bout that Friday in May / One phone call from you and my entire world was changed," Olivia sings, later adding, "Ooh, your flower's filled with vitriol / You built me up to watch me fall / You have everything and you still want more."
The song—which is part of her sophomore album Guts—finishes with Olivia, who has previously described herself as a Swiftie, singing, "But even after all this, you're still everything to me."
Fans couldn't help but express their suspicions that "The Grudge" might be about the "Bad Blood" singer.
"And suddenly i'm a ‘the grudge is about taylor swift' truther," tweeted one user, while another added, "Olivia Rodrigo's new song ‘The Grudge' is absolutely about Taylor Swift, right?"
As for where it stems from? Well…Though Taylor supported Olivia early in the Disney star's career, their friendship seemed to take a turn in 2021 after Olivia gave part of the songwriting credits and royalties for "Deja Vu" to Taylor due to similarities with the 33-year-old's "Cruel Summer."
And this is not the first song from Guts that got fans wondering about bad blood between the two singers. After "Vampire" was released at the end of June, talk grew on the internet that the song might be about Taylor.
Talk that Olivia addressed.
"How do I answer this?" she said to The Guardian in an interview published Sept. 2 when asked about the rumors. "I mean, I never want to say who any of my songs are about. 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 later added, "I was very surprised when people thought that."
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