Then, in June, Rodrigo unveiled her much-anticipated song “Vampire”, which fans believe might contain subtle references to Swift.

Here’s everything we know about the alleged rift …

The beginning: Olivia Rodrigo was always a hardcore “Swiftie”

Rodrigo, who rose to fame as a teen starring in Disney’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, has always been open about how much she looks up to Taylor Swift.

So when Rodrigo’s debut song “Driver’s License” charted at No 3 on iTunes just below two of Swift’s songs in 2021, the youngster took her excitement to social media, stating: “Next to Taylor on the US iTunes chart, I’m in a puddle of tears.” Swift replied, “I say that’s my baby and I’m really proud.”

Rodrigo told NME in 2021 that she’d been listening to Swift since she was five years old, adding, “Obviously I think she’s the best songwriter of all time, but she’s so business-savvy and she really cares about her career in that regard too – that’s been really inspiring for me to watch somebody take control of their career and their life like that.”

Gifts and compliments

Their digital friendship only kept growing.

According to Stylecaster, the two pop stars would send each other handwritten notes and gifts for months.

And Swift, who has millions of loyal followers, would also share her appreciation of the budding star’s talent.

Swift even chose Rodrigo and fellow “Swiftie” Conan Gray to celebrate the release of her album Fearless (Taylor’s Version) by recording a promo vid of them singing along to “You Belong With Me”.

Meeting in person

And then, it finally happened: they met in person at the 2021 Brit Awards. Here, they’d take a now-iconic photobooth pic that immediately went viral at the time.

Musical credits and the Grammys

But things are believed to have gotten, well, sour after that.

Rodrigo’s debut album Sour received critical acclaim upon its release in July 2021. However, some listeners were quick to compare her song “Deja Vu” to Swift’s “Cruel Summer”, per Popbuzz. Although Rodrigo didn’t publicly address these claims, she appeared to make the connection official by later adding Swift, Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent as co-writers on the track, stated Rolling Stone.

There’s no question that Rodrigo finds inspiration in her idol Swift’s music. The similarities between Swift’s “New Year’s Day” and Rodrigo’s “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back” are clear too, and acknowledged by the actress upon its release, but the impact of “Cruel Summer” on “Deja Vu” seems less apparent, according to Variety. The same source stated that it’s likely they settled the case behind closed doors.

Later, in August 2021, Paramore’s Hayley Williams (who’s a close friend of Swift’s) and Josh Farro were added to the credits of Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U”, reported the BBC. (Listeners had also pointed out similarities between “Good 4 U” and Paramore’s song “Misery Business”.) Although Rodrigo didn’t name names, she later told Time, “It was really frustrating to see people discredit and deny my creativity.”

When the Grammys 2022 rolled around, however, Swift and her co-writers were removed from the list of nominated artists under Sour as Grammys cited a “submission error”, per i-D. According to Stylecaster, Swift and Rodrigo didn’t interact at this year’s Grammys despite sitting near each other, only adding fuel to the rumour fire.

The concert drama

Swift seems to have struck up a friendship with Rodrigo’s rumoured arch nemesis singer Sabrina Carpenter, having taken selfies with her at the Grammys this February. Joshua Bassett, Rodrigo’s former beau, was said to have moved on with Carpenter, per Stylecaster.

Swift then added Carpenter to her Eras tour line-up as a special guest.

“Vampire” comes out

Rodrigo’s “Vampire” single came out in July, with the artist stating in an Instagram post that the song was about feelings of “regret, anger and heartache”.

Considering its lyrics like “I used to think I was smart, but you make me look so naïve”, “The way you sold me for parts” and “Famef***er”, fans originally thought it was about her ex, Adam Faze, until this rumour was shut down by a source close to Rodrigo. Now, many fans believe that the song is actually about Swift.

But if it is true, you know how the saying goes: sometimes, it’s better not to meet your hero. Or, in this case, for Rodrigo, her “Anti-Hero” …