Sometimes, artists find inspiration in the unlikeliest places — and it seems Taylor Swift may have found hers from Candace Owens when it comes to a lyric in the new song “Cancelled!”
On the track — which dropped Friday (Oct. 3) along with the rest of the pop star’s new The Life of a Showgirl album — Swift explores how she prefers to have friends who have been “cancelled” by the public at some point, just like she feels she has been at different times in her career. Right before the chorus, she sings, “Did you girlboss too close to the sun?”
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Now, the Icarus-inspired lyric could very well be just another one of the 14-time Grammy winner’s infinite signature turns of phrase — but it also happens to bear a striking resemblance to something a certain conservative commentator said back in January.
In a video on her YouTube channel about Swift’s supposed involvement in Blake Lively’s lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, Owens repeatedly said that the singer and her friend were “girl bosses who flew too close to the sun.”
In a TikTok promoting the episode, the podcaster doubled down. “This story is going to be remembered as ‘girl boss flew too close to the sun,’” she said in the clip.
Billboard has reached out to Swift’s rep for comment.
Fans have been wondering ever since hearing “Cancelled!” which of Swift’s friends she may have been referring to on the song, with some theorizing that Brittany Mahomes — who is married to Patrick Mahomes — might be the subject. But if the parallel to Owens’ video is any indication, the “cancelled” friend in question might just be Lively. If it is, the song’s subject matter would track with the fact that the Gossip Girl alum’s lawsuit revolves around allegations that Baldoni orchestrated a media campaign to turn the public against her after the pair wrapped filming on It Ends With Us, which he denies.
The ongoing suit is expected to go to trial in 2026. And while Baldoni’s legal team has pushed for Swift to be deposed for the case — having previously accused Lively of using the singer’s star power to pressure him on creative choices for It Ends With Us — a judge ruled against it in September.
Swift will, however, have to submit her texts with Lively to the court.
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