Why Fans Think Taylor Swift’s Song ‘Actually Romantic’ Is a Charli XCX Diss Track

The Gist

• Fans think Taylor Swift’s song “Actually Romantic” from her new album, The Life of a Showgirl, is a Charli XCX diss track.

• Although Charli never confirmed it, it’s widely believed that her song “Sympathy Is a Knife” makes reference to Swift.

• “Actually Romantic” also appears to reference Swift’s ex, The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, who is bandmates with Charli’s husband George Daniel.

Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, might have a diss track about Charli XCX. Fans believe the lyrics to the song “Actually Romantic” put the Brat star on blast.

To recap, Swift and Charli first had friction when Charli made a comment about opening up for the pop superstar’s Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018. Speaking to Pitchfork the following year, the “360” singer said, “I’m really grateful that [Taylor] asked me on that tour. But as an artist, it kind of felt like I was getting up on stage and waving to 5-year-olds.” While she later clarified her comments in an X post, Swifties questioned if there was lingering tension between the two artists.

Skip ahead to Brat summer in 2024, and the suspected feud escalated with the release of Charli’s track “Sympathy Is a Knife.” The song’s lyrics describe the singer’s insecurity about an unnamed woman. Lines like “Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back / I hope they break up quick” seemingly referenced Swift’s short-lived, unconfirmed relationship with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy in 2023 (Charli’s then-boyfriend, now-husband is The 1975’s George Daniel).

Swift appeared to clear up rumors of a feud with the “Apple” musician in 2024, 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.”

Just a few months earlier, Charli’s fanbase had called out Swift on social media over the timing of her release of new versions of The Tortured Poets Department. Swift’s 2024 album spent a sixth week at No. 1 in the United Kingdom because of the variants—the same week Charli’s Brat or Bon Jovi’s Forever had been predicted to land No. 1, per Forbes.

Swift’s New York comments marked the end of the drama—or so it seemed. The lyrics to Swift’s new track, “Actually Romantic,” have fans declaring their feud back on. In particular, the opening lyrics “I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave / High-fived my ex and then said you’re glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face” seem to point to Charli.

Fans have suggested online that the lyric about coke could be seen as a veiled reference to Charli’s lyrics on Brat—such as in song “365,” where the English artist sings about “bumpin’ that” and “[having] a little line.”

Healy is widely believed to be the high-fiving “ex” in question. He attended Charli’s second wedding to his bandmate, Daniel, with his fiancé, Gabbriette, in September 2025. That leaves “Sympathy Is a Knife,” the track about Charli’s insecurity around another artist in her circle, as the “song” Swift may be referring to in the verse.

The chorus, meanwhile, sees Swift describing it as “actually romantic” how much time the song’s unnamed subject spends thinking and talking about her. Only time will tell if the two supposed pop rivals can work it out on the remix.

Read the original article on InStyle