Charli XCX opened for Taylor Swift on her Reputation Stadium Tour. But on Charli's latest album, Brat, many fans interpreted the song "Sympathy is a knife" as a diss of Taylor, leading to rumors of a rift. But based on what Taylor says about Charli in a new interview, things seem all good.
Charli, who's engaged to 1975 drummer George Daniel, shares that she feels intimidated by another woman in "Sympathy is a knife." She sings, "Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show/ Fingers crossed behind my back/ I hope they break up quick.” Taylor, of course, briefly dated The 1975's singer, Matt Healy.
But in a new profile of Charli in New York Magazine, Taylor says, “I’ve been blown away by [her] 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.”
Charli tells New York Magazine, "People are gonna think what they want to think. That song is about ... the way my brain creates narratives and stories in my head when I feel insecure and how I don’t want to be in those situations physically when I feel self-doubt.”
In the same interview, Charli addresses her infamous "Kamala is brat" tweet.
“I’m happy to help to prevent democracy from failing forever," she says. "I obviously knew what I was doing. Did I think me talking about being a messy b**** and, like, partying and needing a Bic lighter and a pack of Marlboro Lights would end up on CNN? No. ... My music is not political.”