Every generation has its Hollywood love triangle, and it seems Sabrina Carpenter has placed herself front-and-centre in the ongoing High School Musical spinoff drama.
Just two weeks after High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star Olivia Rodrigo broke records with her debut single, drivers license, the 21-year-old has released her new song, Skin, and fans are convinced it’s a direct response to Olivia.
ICYMI, in drivers license Olivia croons about a painful breakup and implies her ex has a new “blonde girl” who’s “so much older than me”. Rumours began swirling that Olivia was singing about her split from HSMTMTS castmate Joshua Bassett. The co-stars were linked last year but in August 2020, Olivia confirmed via TikTok that she was dealing with a “failed relationship”. After their alleged split, Joshua was rumoured to be dating Sabrina Carpenter, who fits the description of the ex’s new girl in drivers license.
On January 14th, Joshua penned the second chapter of this Disney star love triangle with the drop of— you guessed it— a song of his own titled Lie, Lie Lie.
With lyrics like, “So they told me all the things that you said / Running all over my name, oh / And you’re acting oh so innocent / Like I’m the only one to blame” and “So you’re telling them it’s all my fault / You’re the victim this time, oh”, Joshua seemingly refutes Olivia’s claims that he broke her heart.
Now, Sabrina’s jumping in to tell her side of the story, and despite the suspicious timing (how did she write, produce, and record a rebuttal so quickly?), the singer suggests there’s more to this love triangle than just Olivia’s truth.
We’ve decoded the lyrics from Sabrina Carpenter’s Skin as they relate to Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett.
“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”
In the first verse of Skin, Sabrina seems to addresses being mentioned in drivers license. Remember, Olivia sang about an older blonde girl that her ex started dating after they split.
“You’re tellin’ it how you see it/ Like truth is whatever you decide / Some people will believe it / And some will read in between the lines / You’re putting me in the spotlight / But I’ve been under it all my life”
Sabrina insists that she’s not the villain that Olivia painted her out to be in drivers license and there’s more to the story. She also addresses the media frenzy that Olivia’s chart-topping single created.
“You can try / To get under my, under my, under my skin / While hе’s on mine”
The chorus speaks directly to their love triangle, as Sabrina sings about Olivia trying to get under her skin — possibly with the release of drivers license— while Sabrina’s busy with Joshua on hers.
“I just hope that one day / We both can laugh about it / When it’s not in our face / Won’t have to dance around it / Don’t drive yourself insane / It won’t always be this way”
In the bridge, Sabrina again alludes to the press storm surrounding this saga before further solidifying the song is a response to Olivia with the lyric, “Don’t drive yourself insane”.
Turns out Disney channel’s Joshua Bassett is Hollywood’s most eligible bachelor.