Taylor Swift Praises Charli XCX Amid Feud Rumors

Taylor Swift was brat all along, as she proved in Charli XCX’s cover story for New York Magazine, published on Aug. 26. Swift’s praise for the British pop star effectively shut down feud rumors stemming from Charli’s song “Sympathy Is a Knife” from her latest album.

“I’ve been blown away by Charli’s melodic sensibilities since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011,” she told the outlet. “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 refused to entertain questions about the song being reportedly inspired by Swift.

“People are gonna think what they want to think,” she told New York. “That song is about me and my feelings and my anxiety and the way my brain creates narratives and stories in my head when I feel insecure and how I don’t want to be in those situations physically when I feel self-doubt.”

Charli And Taylor’s History

Swift and Charli have history, with the latter opening for the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018. The following year, Charli told Pitchfork that it felt like she was “waving to 5-year-olds” every night. (She later apologized for her statement.)

When Charli released her sixth studio album, Brat, in June, fans immediately connected the lyrics of “Sympathy Is a Knife” to Swift. In the song, she sings about an unnamed girl who brings out her major insecurities and hopes they don’t run into each other. “Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show,” she sings. “Fingers crossed behind my back, I hope they break up quick.”

When Charli wrote Brat in the spring of 2023, she was dating The 1975’s George Daniel (now her fiancé). At the same time, Swift reportedly dated Daniel’s bandmate Matty Healy. Although she was on the Eras Tour, there was always a chance that Swift could’ve attended one of The 1975’s shows, especially after she made a surprise appearance at the band’s London concert in January, where Charli was also present.

Swift and Healy split early that summer. While Charli’s never confirmed who inspired the song, she clarified that none of the tracks on Brat should be considered a diss track, including “Sympathy.”

“They are really just about how it’s so complicated being an artist, especially a female artist, where you are pitted against your peers but also expected to be best friends with every single person constantly,” she explained on TikTok. “And if you are not, you are deemed a bad feminist.”