Sabrina Carpenter shocked social media when she followed former-rival Olivia Rodrigo on X, formerly Twitter, today.
The potential social media olive branch comes after the pair allegedly had beef in 2021, when they both reportedly dated High School Musical: the Musical: the Series star Joshua Bassett. The scorned relationship spawned Rodrigo's record-breaking No. 1 single, "Driver's License," which seemingly took aim at Bassett and Carpenter's suspected relationship.
In the years following the "diss tracks" and rumors, not much else was said about their beef. Both songstresses went on to create more acclaimed music and are both currently in public relationships.
It is not clear what prompted Carpenter to follow Rodrigo on the social media platform. They have not publicly spoken about each other recently and do not interact with each other. As of Thursday afternoon, Rodrigo had not followed Carpenter back.
Their first public interaction since the scandal happened at the Met Gala in 2022, when they were photographed speaking to each other during a party. The two singers could be seen interacting in a room that also included Sebastian Stan and Kim Kardasian.
"Drivers License" served as the lead single for Rodrigo's debut album Sour, which was released in 2021. Its lyrics sang of a broken relationship, saying that an ex was "probably with that blonde girl," which many took to be Bassett hanging out with Carpenter. This prompted the "Espresso" singer to release a response, with "Skin" being released a few weeks later.
After releasing "Skin," Carpenter took to Instagram to address the rumors, saying that she did not want it to become an "endless cycle" and encouraged her fans not to send hate towards anyone else for her sake.
"I wasn't bothered by a few lines in a (magnificent) song and wrote a diss track about it," she said. "I was at a tipping point in my life for countless reasons. So, I was inspired to do what I usually do to cope, write something that I wish I could have told myself in the past ... The song isn't calling out one single person. Some lines address a specific situation, while other lines address plenty of other experiences I've had this past year."
However, lyrics like "maybe 'blonde' was the only rhyme" and "don't drive yourself insane" seemed to specifically take aim at Rodrigo calling her name in a single.
Later that year, Rodrigo also took time to reflect on the situation once things had cooled down, arguing that the general public "had no idea" about what the situation actually entailed.
"I put it out not knowing that it would get that reaction, so it was really strange [when] it did," she told Variety in August of 2021. "I just remember [everyone being] so weird and speculative about stuff they had no idea about."
Online rumors have circulated that the pair may have come together for the music video for Billie Eilish's new single, "Lunch." Expected to serve as the lead single for her Hit Me Hard and Soft album, out Friday, a rumor was posted to Twitter that suggested that Rodrigo and Carpenter could both be featured in the visual.
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