Photo by Dia Dipasupil/WireImage

Entertainment

Sabrina Carpenter Addresses "Driver's License" Drama On New Song

Fans think her new song "Skin" is about fellow Disney stars Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett.

Updated: 
Originally Published: 

What do you do when your co-star writes a smash hit that seems to imply you stole her man? Write your own song as a rebuttal, of course! That's what fans think Girls Meets World actress Sabrina Carpenter did, anyway, with her new song "Skin," which seems to address High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star Olivia Rodrigo's runaway hit "Drivers License" that many think is about a love triangle between Carpenter, Rodrigo, and Joshua Bassett. (Got all that?)

"Drivers License" has had massive success this year, thanks to TikTok queen Charli D'Amelio dancing to it, a Taylor Swift co-sig, and the song's universal appeal to nostalgia, driving around the suburbs, and broken-heartedness. The fan theory is that 17-year-old Rodrigo and 20-year-old Bassett were dating first, before 21-year-old Carpenter entered the scene (the ages will become relevant in a moment).

On "Drivers License," Rodrigo sings: "And you're probably with that blonde girl/Who always made me doubt/She's so much older than me/She's everything I'm insecure about." Many fans took to these lines to be a direct reference to Carpenter, who was rumored to be dating Bassett after Rodrigo was rumored to be dating him (no one has confirmed nor denied any official relationships at this point).

Rodrigo has also never officially confirmed nor denied what the song is about, telling Billboard, "I totally understand people's curiosity with the specifics of who the song's about and what it's about, but to me, that's really the least important part of the song. It's resonating with people because of how emotional it is, and I think everything else is not important."

On "Skin," Carpenter sings: "Maybe we could have been friends/If I met you in another life/Maybe then we could pretend/There's no gravity in the words we write/Maybe you didn't mean it/Maybe 'blonde' was the only rhyme/The only rhyme." (An earlier version of "Drivers License" reportedly referred to a brunette woman, before being changed to blonde.)

For what it's worth, Bassett also released a song, "Lie, Lie, Lie," further fanning the HSMTMTS flames. On January 13 he wrote on Instagram: "I wrote ‘Lie Lie Lie’ after I found out a friend had been lying about me behind my back for a long time. It always sucks to hear that someone you thought you could trust would throw you under the bus when it benefits them. It happens to all of us, and I think all you can do is seek out people that build you up rather than tear you down."

Whether that friend is Rodrigo is up for discussion; whether fans will continue to speculate over the love triangle and any further songs the three put out, is for certain.

This article was originally published on