Taylor Swift and Charli XCX drama explained: why fans believe ‘Actually Romantic’ is a diss track
The drama between Taylor Swift and Charli XCX has taken over social media following the release of Swift's new song, “Actually Romantic".
Image: Facebook
Since her debut with “Tim McGraw”, Taylor Swift’s fans have closely examined her lyrics to figure out who she is singing about.
Early in her career, Swift would include clues in her lyric booklets, capitalising certain letters to reveal secret messages.
Today, the hints have expanded far beyond printed lyrics, appearing in Instagram captions, talk show appearances, TikToks and other public moments.
Fans now scrutinise nearly everything Swift does for signs of who inspires her songs.
Her twelfth studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl”, quickly attracted attention, particularly for the track “Actually Romantic”.
On the soft rock song, Swift describes someone so focused on her that it feels like love. She sings, “It’s actually romantic / I really gotta hand it to you / No man has ever loved me like you do.”
Fans were quick to speculate that the song refers to Charli XCX, who toured with Swift on her "Reputation World Tour" and appeared at one of her "1989 World Tour" shows.
Rumours of tension between Swift and XCX emerged in 2024 with the release of XCX’s “Brat” album.
The track “Sympathy Is a Knife” seemed to reference a relationship with Swift, highlighting feelings of insecurity around her.
XCX denied the song was about Swift, saying it reflected her own experiences. Meanwhile, Swift explained that “Actually Romantic” is about realising someone has a one-sided, adversarial fixation on her.
The connection between the two songs drew attention because of lyrical overlaps and shared social circles.
XCX’s song mentions backstage anxiety, jealousy and emotional unease: “This one girl taps my insecurities / Don't know if it's real or if I'm spiralling.”
Swift’s track opens with lines about someone calling her names, high-fiving her ex and writing a song about her.
Fans interpreted these lines as a direct response to XCX’s perceived references.
After the release of “Actually Romantic”, XCX shared a short studio video with a heart emoji, sparking speculation that she might respond musically, though she has not confirmed anything.
In an introduction on Amazon Music, Swift clarified the song’s meaning.
She said, “‘Actually Romantic’ is a song about realising that someone else has kind of had a one-sided, adversarial relationship with you that you didn’t know about.”