There's been a lot of chatter about Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo's "drama" over the years—with claims in equal measure that they're either (a) feuding or (b) being unfairly pitted against each other—but it's actually pretty simple: There is no beef! Just a brief history of friendship and mutual admiration that couldn't be easier to break down. So let's get into it with a handy timeline, shall we?
January 8, 2021
Olivia, a longtime Taylor fan, celebrates her debut single "Drivers License" being right next to her idol on the charts:
January 10, 2021
And then she celebrates Taylor commenting on her post:
January 14, 2021
The good vibes continue when Olivia gushes over Taylor supporting "Drivers License," telling Apple Music's Zane Lowe, “I was dead asleep and my friend called me on the phone and I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s 6 a.m. Can I call you back in two hours?’ And he’s like, ‘No. Absolutely not. Check your Instagram right now.' And in the grogginess of my sleep, I checked my phone and she commented on my photo and I just about died… just about died. Literally, I’ve looked up to her as long as I can remember, so it was so sweet of her to do that.”
March 4, 2021
Olivia reveals that Taylor sent her a ring like the one she wore in "Red," saying, "She is absolutely the kindest individual in the whole world. Actually, last night—like literally 12 hours ago—I got a package from her with this handwritten note. And she gave me this ring because she said she wore one just like it when she wrote 'Red' and she wanted me to have one like it."
April 7, 2021
Olivia tells Rolling Stone the bridge of Taylor Swift's “Cruel Summer” inspired the bridge of her song “Deja Vu.” (Remember this when we get to July 2021.)
"We wanted to write a bridge," she says. "I wanted it to be really high-energy ’cause the rest of the song is so serene and eerily calm. But I wanted the last bridge to go crazy and I love ‘Cruel Summer.’ It’s one of my favorite songs ever. I love like the yelly vocals in it, like the harmonized yells that she does, I think they’re, like, super electric and moving, so I wanted to do something like that.”"
April 8, 2021
Olivia and her friend/fellow musician Conan Gray hype up Fearless (Taylor's Version):
May 11, 2021
Olivia and Taylor finally meet for the first time, a moment so iconic that Olivia hits the grid.
May 20, 2021
Billboard reports that Olivia's Sour track “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back” interpolates Taylor's song “New Year’s Day,” and that Tay and Jack Antonoff each have writing credits. But please be advised that this is positioned as a positive thing! In fact, the outlet notes that Sour‘s release date of 5/21/2021 adds up to Taylor's fave number, 13. (0 + 5 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 0 + 2 + 1 = 13).
June 1, 2021
Olivia talks to Zach Sang about being inspired by Tay's song "New Year's Day," saying, "We interpolated 'New Year's Day,' which is Taylor's song from Reputation. I came up with the '1 Step Forward' concept, and I sort of wrote a verse and a chorus… I was in the car on a road trip, and when I got home, I decided to sing it over the chords of 'New Year's Day.' I think they're really beautiful chords. I was lucky enough to get that approved, and it's on the record now."
July 9, 2021
Billboard reports that Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and St. Vincent have been given co-writer credits on "Deja Vu." The credit is notably added after Olivia spoke about how she was influenced by "Cruel Summer."
October 5, 2021
Teen Vogue asks Olivia about the whole songwriting credit thing, and she says, "Writing songs about how I feel has always been easy and fun for me, and I think the business side of music has been something I've had a harder time learning. I've been sort of growing through that this year, but I've just been trying to remember that I write songs because I love them. I feel lucky I get to do that and be a songwriter and a performer for a living...at the end of the day, I feel it doesn't have too much to do with me."
Liv also says "I think it's disappointing to see people take things out of context and discredit any young woman's work. But at the end of the day, I'm just really proud and happy to say that my job is being a songwriter…all music is inspired by each other. Obviously, I write all of my lyrics from my heart and my life first. I came up with the lyrics and the melody for 'good 4 u' one morning in the shower."
December 9, 2021
Olivia is named Entertainer of the Year by TIME, and says "It was really frustrating to see people discredit and deny my creativity," while her producer Dan Nigro says "It seems like people get funny about things when songs become really popular." Obviously, this has fans speculating that things might be awk between Olivia and Taylor.
June 30, 2023
Olivia drops "Vampire" and theories abound as to who it could be about—with some fans speculating the song is about Taylor after the whole songwriting credits thing.
September 2, 2023
The Guardian goes ahead and asks Olivia if "Vampire" is about Taylor and she says, “How do I answer this? 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. I was very surprised when people thought that.”
September 8, 2023
GUTS drops, fans immediately dive into the lyrics, and theories develop that "The Grudge" might also be about Taylor.
Just gonna drop these lyrics:
"I have nightmares each week 'bout that Friday in May
One phone call from you and my entire world was changed
Trust that you betrayed, confusion that still lingers
Took everything I loved and crushed it in between your fingers
And I doubt you ever think about the damage that you did
But I hold onto every detail like my life depends on it
My undying love, now I hold it like a grudge
And I hear your voice every time that I think I'm not enough"
September 12, 2023
Olivia is asked point-blank where she and Taylor stand during an interview with Rolling Stone and says “I don’t have beef with anyone. I’m very chill. I keep to myself. I have my four friends and my mom, and that’s really the only people I talk to, ever. There’s nothing to say. There’s so many Twitter conspiracy theories. I only look at alien-conspiracy theories.”
She's also asked how she felt about Taylor's team asking for writing credits on "Deja Vu," and admits “I was a little caught off guard. At the time it was very confusing, and I was green and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Is that the phrase? It’s not something that I was super involved in. It was more team-on-team. So, I wouldn’t be the best person to ask.”
On top of that, she says “I don’t think I would ever personally do that. But who’s to say where I’ll be in 20, 30 years. All that I can do is write my songs and focus on what I can control.”
Meanwhile, Tay is seen clapping for Olivia during her VMAs performance, indicating the writing credits issue is water under the bridge:
February 4, 2024
In yet another indication that there's no drama (or at least no lasting drama!) to be found, Taylor is spotted dancing to "Vampire" during Olivia's performance at the Grammys!
Annnnd that basically brings us up to date! TL;DR: Olivia and Taylor are good.
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