A feud between Taylor Swift and Charli XCX?  Leonard Hohenberg It’s opposite. It’s on the other side. 

The “Karma” singer firmly squashed any rumors of a rift between her and Charli—whose album brat included the track “Sympathy is a Knife” which many believed shaded Taylor—by praising her fellow musician’s work. 

“I’ve been blown away by Charli’s melodic sensibilities since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011,” Taylor told New York magazine in an article published Aug. 26. “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.”

As for Charli, she’s declined to share insight into the meaning behind the lyrics, which many fans believe referenced Taylor’s spring 2023 romance with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy. 

“Don’t want to see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show,” Charli, who is engaged to the 1975’s drummer George Daniel, sings in the tune. “Fingers crossed behind my back I hope they break up quick / ‘Cause I couldn’t even be her if I tried.”

However, Charli insisted “Sympathy is a Knife” has a much deeper meaning as a whole.

“People are gonna think what they want to think,” the 32-year-old told New York. “That song is about me and my feelings and my anxiety and 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.” 

And despite the recent rumors of beef between them, Charli’s relationship with Taylor does go back several years. After all, she and Camila Cabello were opening acts for the 34-year-old during the Reputation stadium tour in 2018. 

At the time, Charli expressed conflicting feelings toward performing at those shows, due to the fact that she was used to playing 18+ clubs. Still, she considered the experience as an extremely valuable moment in her career. 

“I’m really grateful that [Taylor] asked me on that tour,” she told Pitchfork in 2019. “But as an artist, it kind of felt like I was getting up on stage and waving to 5-year-olds.”

The “Apple” singer later clarified again that she harbors no bad feelings toward Taylor.

“It’s always wonderful to watch other artists do their thing, own their stage, and speak their language to their dedicated fanbases—and this was especially true for the Reputation tour,” Charli wrote on X, formerly Twitter, at the time. “I want to clarify that there is absolutely no shade and only love here!”

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