(NewsNation) — Taylor Swift’s new album “The Life of a Showgirl” has fans buzzing about a rumored feud between her and Charlie XCX.
Swifties are known to deeply dissect the “Opalite” singer’s lyrics and find easter eggs that Swift usually drops in her albums and music videos.
Is Taylor Swift’s ‘Actual Romantic’ about Charlie XCX?
Some fans of Swift think her new song “Actual Romantic” is a diss track about the “Brat” performer, saying the lyrics allude to bad blood between them.
“I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave,” Swift sings. “High-fived my ex and then you said you’re glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face.”
The star continues, “How many times has your boyfriend said/ Why are we always talkin’ about her?”
What has Charlie XCX allegedly said about Taylor Swift
Online sleuths think that “Actually Romantic” is a response to Charli’s “Sympathy is a Knife” off her 2024 album “Brat.”
Charli said the song was about her insecurities, but listeners thought it was about the “Reputation” singer and her relationship with pop rock band 1975’s Matty Healy, according to E! News.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — Episode 1871 — Pictured: Musical guest Charli XCX performs “360” on Saturday, November 16, 2024 — (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images) 
THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON — Episode 2195 — Pictured: (l-r) Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift during an interview with host Jimmy Fallon on Monday, October 6, 2025 — (Photo by: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images) 
FILE – Charli XCX appears at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif., on March 10, 2024. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, FIle) 
Taylor Swift attends the 67th Grammy Awards on Feb. 02, 2025 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
“Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show,” Charli sang. “Fingers crossed behind my back / I hope they break up real quick.”
Charli XCX is married to Healy’s bandmate George Daniel.
She told Vulture in August 2024 that the song is about how her “brain creates narratives and stories” when she’s insecure.
After “Actual Romantic’s” release, Charli posted a short video on X of her inside a recording studio, showing an engineer in front of a mixing board.
Taylor Swift and Charli XCX’s history
Charli XCX and Swift have worked together several times before.
The “365” singer opened for Swift for her “Reputation Stadium Tour” in 2018, with the singer telling People Magazine she hoped to work with Swift and Camilla Cabello, who also opened for the “Getaway Car” performer.
“They’re both such great writers, so I’d love to write with them while we’re out on the road,” Charli said, adding that Swift has “always been very kind” to her.
According to People, fans thought that the relationship began to fracture when Charli XCX said that performing to the crowd during the tour felt like “waving to 5-year-olds.”
“I’m really grateful that (Taylor) asked me on that tour,” Charli told Pitchfork in August 2019. “But as an artist, it kind of felt like I was getting up on stage and waving to 5-year-olds.”
Taylor Swift blocks Charlie XCX from No. 1
Last year, Charlie XCX released a deluxe version of Brat, when the “Shake it Off” singer released new editions of her 2024 album “The Tortured Poets Department,” which brought her album to No. 1 on the U.K. charts, according to People.
Taylor Swift has praised Charli XCX
Swift has praised the “360” singer, telling Vulture, “I’ve been blown away by Charli’s melodic sensibilities since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011,” she said.
“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.”