Taylor Swift May Have Dissed Charli xcx on ‘Actually Romantic’

Taylor Swift fans believe another feud may be afoot.

On Friday, Oct. 3, the pop star released The Life of a Showgirl, and her new song “Actually Romantic” already has social media abuzz with theories about who inspired the diss track.

In the opening verse, Swift sings of a fellow songwriter of calling her “boring Barbie,” adding that they “High-fived my ex and then said you’re glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song sayin’ it makes you sick to see my face / Some people might be offended / But it’s actually sweet / All the time you’ve spent on me / It’s honestly wild / All the effort you’ve put in / It’s actually romantic / I really gotta hand it to you / No man has ever loved me like you do.”

Later in the track, Swift sings that she “hadn’t thought of you in a long time,” wondering out loud, “How many times has your boyfriend said / Why are we always talkin’ about her? … You just give me so much … attention / It’s so romantic.”

Fans believe that British pop star Charli xcx — who also has a song called “Everything Is Romantic” on Brat — is the subject of the track.

“actually romantic is definitely about charli xcx omggg,” one X (formerly Twitter) user posted. Another fan didn’t interpret the track as a diss, writing, “Actually Romantic actually being really fun and tongue-in-cheek omg y’all need to loosen up that was rlly cute.” Meanwhile, another fan speculated on X, “it’s kinda clear that actually romantic is about some behind the scenes stuff with charli and her friends we don’t know about and not about sympathy is a knife.”

Charli is now married to George Daniel, drummer for The 1975; Swift previously dated The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, and Charli is close friends with Healy and his fiancée Gabbriette Bechtel.

On her acclaimed 2024 album Brat, Charli sang, “This one girl taps my insecurities,” on the song “Sympathy Is a Knife.” Many believe that song was inspired by Swift because of the lyrics, “Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back, I hope they break up quick.”

Last year, Swift showed respect for Charli, telling New York Magazine, “I’ve been blown away by Charli’s melodic sensibilities since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011. Her writing is surreal and inventive, always. She just takes a song to places you wouldn’t expect it to go, and she’s been doing it consistently for over a decade. I love to see hard work like that pay off.”

Charli previously opened for Swift on her Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018. During the outing, Charli and fellow supporting artist Camila Cabello would join Swift nightly for her performance of “Shake It Off.” After the tour wrapped, she told Pitchfork in 2019, “As an artist, it kind of felt like I was getting up onstage and waving to 5-year-olds,” though eventually issued an apology to Swift’s fans on Twitter.

As part of The Life of a Showgirl’s launch, Swift announced that The Release Party of a Showgirl; the theatrical release of her music video for “The Fate of Ophelia,” the rest of the album’s lyric videos and behind-the-scenes footage will be screening in cinemas Oct. 3 – 5.