Hours before Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life of a Showgirl dropped worldwide, fans were already shaken up over some leaked lyrics. But now that the album has finally arrived, Swifties have taken their theories to the next level.
One of the buzziest tracks on the album is “Actually Romantic,” which opens with Swift bluntly calling out someone who apparently dissed her both on the record and behind the scenes.
“I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke's got you brave / High-fived my ex and then you said you're glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song sayin' it makes you sick to see my face,” Swift sings on the song’s intro.
The consensus seems to be that the song is about Charli XCX, responding to her Brat cut “Sympathy Is a Knife” — which, itself, was rumored to be about Swift. The “ex” in question is likely The 1975 lead vocalist Matty Healy, who briefly dated Swift back in 2023, and is the bandmate of Charli’s husband, George Daniel.
Now that the song has arrived in full, fans have taken to social media to express their shock.
“taylor is really [gunning] charli down in actually romantic,” wrote one fan on X.
“the way taylor clocked charli’s tea on actually romantic should be studied,” wrote another.
While some find the rumored beef entertaining, some think Swift took things too far. Though Charli didn’t call out anyone by name on “Sympathy is a Knife,” fans say that her song isn’t a diss on any artist in particular, but rather an expression of the insecurity Charli had been battling as she was aligned with one of the most famous pop stars in the world.
“on that lady's attempt at a hit job... way to say you didn't understand what charli was doing on sympathy is a knife,” wrote a fan.
“this as a response to ‘sympathy is a knife’ is insane,” wrote another. “she only heard the lyric about matty healy and went into a blind rage.”
Even though both of these songs allude to different types of feelings, some fans are saying that “Actually Romantic” isn’t necessarily referring to “Sympathy Is a Knife,” but also to some rumored shady actions Charli may have pulled behind the scenes.
“why can’t people grasp the concept that actually romantic isnt JUST about sympathy is a knife and something happened between them personally and charli clearly talked behind taylors back,” wrote one Swiftie. “like why are yall streaming the song but not listening to it?”
Fans can listen for themselves as The Life of a Showgirl is out now on all streaming platforms.