Taylor Swift continues to fuel long-running Olivia Rodrigo feud rumours as fans accuse hitmaker of trying to steal her rival's thunder

When she was just 17, Olivia Rodrigo covered one of Taylor Swift's biggest hits Cruel Summer – uploading the clip to social media and earning praise from the songwriter herself in the comments. 

Soon after Olivia passionately gushed that Taylor was the 'reason she writes songs'.

Six years later, however, and things couldn't be more different between the pair, amid rumours of a long-running feud, which has been fueled by non-committal comments made by Olivia on a podcast about where their relationship is today. 

While she told The New York Times' Popcast podcast that she found the online speculation about the state of their friendship exhausting, her comments about Taylor appeared to be deliberately vague.

'I really don't read too far into it,' Olivia, 23, said when asked about rumours that they don't get on. 'I think, if I dove into every internet detective sleuth that got things right or wrong about my life or any of my relationships, I would just go crazy. There's just not enough time in the day.'

When directly asked if there was a 'frost' between her and Taylor, she added: 'I don't know, I think I try to not let it get to me or upset me.

'It was so long ago, there's no use in harping on it. I just try to make songs that I love and try to be kind and good to other people and supportive of other people. And at the end of the day, I think that's all you can do.'

Soon after the podcast came out, Taylor, 36, was accused by some fans of trying to steal Olivia's thunder with a not-so subtle move on the day her album was released.

Last Friday, Taylor dropped the acoustic versions of her new Toy Story 5 track, I Knew It, I Knew You, to streaming services – on the same day that Olivia's new album, You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love, was released. 

Taylor has been busy promoting the song in recent weeks and attended the film's LA premiere, where she also performed an unexpected duet of You've Got A Friend In Me with the song's writer and singer Randy Newman.

Taylor's tune currently sits at number one in the UK Top 40, while Olivia's The Cure is at number four 

One fan wrote online: 'I kind of expected this from Taylor this WEEK to try to stay in the hot 100 top 10, but doing it on the NIGHT Olivia releases sure is something.'

But where does the tension actually stem from?

Both Olivia and Taylor first crossed paths in early 2021, and seemingly sparked up a budding friendship as the younger star's music career began to rise.

The two finally met in person at the BRIT Awards that year, snapping a fun photo together. 

Olivia told Billboard that same year that the Bad Blood hitmaker had written to her with praise for her songs after dropping hits such as Drivers License.

'I don't want to divulge too much because it's really sweet and personal. But she talks a lot about how, I think, you make your own luck in the world. And when you do kind things to others, good things come your way,' the actress explained.

However, in the following months, fans had begun to speculate that all was not well with their friendship when the duo were no longer seen hanging out together.

It appears to stem from when Olivia released her album, Sour, and faced copyright issues with some of the tracks, including Deja Vu – which has a similar sounding bridge to Taylor's Cruel Summer. 

At the time, Olivia did say that the bridge on Deja Vu was heavily inspired by the yelling sounds of the bridge of Cruel Summer.

Following online comparisons and behind-the-scenes legal discussions, Olivia then quietly granted songwriting credits for Deja Vu to Taylor, as well as Jack Antonoff, and St. Vincent, who also worked on Cruel Summer, in July 2021.

After that, as their public interactions ceased and they stopped supporting each other's music releases, rumors began to arise that this was the reason for the tension between them.

When asked about the alleged drama by Rolling Stone, Olivia said, 'I don't have beef with anyone. I'm very chill. I keep to myself.

'I have my four friends and my mom, and that's really the only people I talk to, ever. There's nothing to say.'

She also said she wasn't all that 'involved' in the songwriting credit matter: 'It's not something that I was super involved in.

'It was more team-on-team. So, I wouldn't be the best person to ask.'

'I love Cruel Summer. That's one of my favorite songs ever. I love the yell-y vocal in it, the harmonised yells she does. I feel like they're super electric and moving, so I wanted to do something like that,' the beauty told Rolling Stone in 2021. 

There is no evidence that Taylor took legal action against Olivia about the song, and in 2023, Olivia addressed online speculation that she had written her song Vampire about Taylor. 

The song features lyrics about an exploitative relationship and a 'bloodsucker' who drained her success.  

'I was very surprised when people thought that,' she told The Guardian at the time.

'I never want to say who any of my songs are about. I've never done that before in my career and probably won't.

'I think it's better to not pigeonhole a song to being about this one thing.'

Then, later in the year, Olivia failed to attend the Taylor's Eras Tour. She told The New York Times that her schedule was too booked to attend as she was promoting her album Guts.

'I haven't [attended] yet,' she said, days before the tour's first US leg ended. 'I'm going to Europe this week.'

Taylor has never spoken out about the rumoured feud. But in her typical fashion did turn to songwriting to express her thoughts on the music industry pitting women against each other.

Her track Clara Bow from The Tortured Poets Department alludes to a younger person in the music industry that Taylor is compared to. 

And the feud rumours haven't ever really gone away. In a viral clip last summer, an employee at The Bluebird Café – a pioneering music space where many singer-songwriters have launched their careers – claimed that the famous venue had 'vowed to remove any visible signs of Taylor Swift'.

The Bluebird Café was forced to set the record straight over reports that Olivia's team asked it to remove pictures of Taylor at the venue before she was filmed performing there.

In a video shared to X, the general manager and COO Erica Nichols confirmed that pictures were taken down, but explained that this was purely because of copyright laws and had nothing to do with Olivia.

'We did have a filming with Olivia Rodrigo here,' she began. 'Olivia's people did not ask us to remove an image of Taylor Swift. Nobody did. 

'We removed an image of Taylor Swift that was in a position where the filming was taking place.

'When we have filmings, we are required legally to remove images that are under copyright. We don't own those images, so we cannot give permission for those images to be used in any kind of broadcast. 

'That's the sole reason that the photograph was removed from the place it stood.'

Nichols explained that the employee who initially ignited rumors, didn't fully understand why the picture was taken down.

'He spoke carelessly and haphazardly about it, maybe trying to be funny, I don't know,' she continued. 'But regardless, that image was removed for legal reasons.'

She also pointed that other pictures in the room were also taken down.

'Please understand this was not anything between two artists,' Nichols added. 

'We support all songwriters, all artists and give them equal share. Taylor is a super friend of the Bluebird, and we hold her in the highest esteem.

'We were honored to have Olivia here, and please know they both live extremely high in our regard.'

Concluding her message, she said: 'It was a mistake on the part of the employee, and I'm here to clear that up so you know that this was something that we were just required to do for legal reasons.

'Thank you so much for listening. Please know that we at The Bluebird Café support Taylor. We support Olivia and we're grateful for your support.'

There have also been claims that Olivia is mirroring Taylor's style. Last year, she was accused of copying Taylor after she was spotted wearing a dress that was  similar to something the Cruel Summer songstress previously donned.

Olivia was spotted watching the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, England, last July with her then boyfriend, Louis Partridge.

She looked chic in a vintage collared red and white plaid button-down Louis Vuitton gingham dress for the sporting event, which she paired with small sunglasses.

But when some social media users pointed out that Taylor wore almost the exact same look to a tennis tournament the year before, it left to the Drivers License singer facing immense backlash.

Back in September 2024, Taylor was photographed alongside NFL star fiancé Travis Kelce at the US Open men's final in New York City.

She wore a red and white gingham Reformation gown and dark shades.

Fans were quick to discuss the similarities of the two stars' looks on X, formerly Twitter. 

One fan posted side-by-side images of the women at the tennis matches with the caption, 'Yes copy my homework but don't make it too obvious', and it quickly went viral, gaining more than 835,000 views.

'The red and white plaid dress… similar sunglasses… both attending a tennis match… you can't make this up,' they added in a follow-up post. 

Many people slammed Olivia in the replies and accused her of copying Taylor, with some even branding her as 'creepy' over it.

'It's just getting beyond creepy now,' one user wrote.

'She makes me [vomit],' added another, while a third said, 'This is a little creepy.' 

'She definitely got inspired by her look, it's okay to admit. The shape of the glasses are even the same and both are at a tennis match,' a fourth comment read.

Some users, on the other hand, defended Olivia amid the scrutiny, pointing out that she actually wore a similar red and white plaid dress in April 2024, five months before Taylor did.

'Olivia had worn [a similar] dress as Taylor months before, so following this user's logic, that would actually make Taylor the copycat in this situation,' one defender wrote.

'Olivia did it first and better,' insisted another.

'Omg, people, it's clothes! Everyone around the world uses the same fabric patterns. If an artist uses it doesn't mean it's exclusive for them,' someone else chimed in.

'Wow now she is the only one allowed to wear a red and white checkered dress,' said a different person.

'God forbid a woman wear something similar to Taylor,' read another comment.

'It's okay to take inspirations from your idols,' announced one person.

'Taylor did not invent red gingham,' quipped another.