Never meet your heroes, folks — especially if they’re blonde billionaire pop titans. It can lead to a masterpiece ballad like “the grudge” by Olivia Rodrigo, but since you’re not a Grammy-winning songwriter, it’s more likely to just lead to disappointment and depression. Olivia’s falling out with Taylor Swift is old news in 2024, but as an Olivia stan, I sensed there was an issue back in 2021, shortly after the infamous credits debacle occurred. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Olivia’s team quietly added Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Annie Clark as songwriters on “deja vu” in July 2021 because of supposed similarities to Taylor’s “Cruel Summer.” It was somewhat obvious to me that Olivia was pissed about that when she abruptly stopped bringing up Taylor in interviews, but my suspicions about a rift were 100 percent confirmed when I attended the SOUR tour in May 2022 and there was not a single Taylor song on the pre-show playlist. And of course, when Olivia released GUTS in September 2023 and I heard “the grudge” for the first time, I nearly choked and then had to mostly stop listening to Taylor’s music. Why is the Taylor and Olivia Cold War relevant again, you ask? Welp, fans have noticed that Taylor’s name makes an appearance in Olivia’s GUTS concert film. Let’s get into it: Here’s why Taylor Swift is credited in Olivia Rodrigo’s new Netflix movie.

Taylor Swift And Olivia Rodrigo Credits Drama, Explained

Why Is Taylor Swift Credited In Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts Tour Film?

oh BROTHER pic.twitter.com/odf4HcRcs6

— marissa (@rodrigosrem) October 29, 2024

If you’re a person of taste who recently watched Olivia’s Olivia Rodrigo: Guts World Tour film, you may have noticed a lengthy Taylor section in the credits. Under “deja vu,” there’s a sentence that reads: “This composition embodies portions of ‘Cruel Summer’ written by Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff and Annie Clark, published by Taylor Swift Music, Sony Tree Publishing, Ducky Donath Music, Sony Songs, Hipgnosis Music and Nail Polish Manifesto Music.” I have to agree with the Twitter user who shared a screenshot of the credits and wrote: “oh BROTHER.” Oh, brother indeed. Three years later, I still cannot believe a 30-something-year-old woman demanded songwriting credits and 50 percent of the song royalties from a THEN-TEENAGE SWIFTIE who idolized her… all because Olivia CHANTED the “deja vu” bridge like Taylor CHANTED the “Cruel Summer” bridge. I hate to break it to Taylor, but she did not invent chant-singing. Listen to these two songs back to back, and I’m sure you will be just as perplexed by this credits situation as I am. It’s giving Taylor felt threatened by Olivia (her first real competition in years) and wanted to bring her down a notch.

When Rolling Stone asked Olivia about the credits situation in a September 2023 interview, she said she was “a little caught off guard.” The singer explained, “At the time it was very confusing, and I was green and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed… I don’t think I would ever personally do that. But who’s to say where I’ll be in 20, 30 years? All that I can do is write my songs and focus on what I can control.” Tea.

Do I think it’s a coincidence that Olivia left “1 step forward, 3 steps back” off the GUTS tour setlist? Nope! For that SOUR song, she got permission to use the piano part from Taylor’s song, “New Year’s Day,” so Taylor’s a credited songwriter there too. Cutting that song was a subtle Taylor diss, for sure. Not to mention, Olivia sang “the grudge” (the song about the “deja vu” drama) right after “deja vu”… another pointed choice.

“The Grudge” Lyrics About Taylor Swift

This was obviously settled behind the scenes, but I believe Olivia told us the full story in “the grudge,” in which she recalls a phone call she got one “Friday in May” that traumatized her. She sings: “One phone call from you and my entire world was changed / Trust that you betrayed, confusion that still lingers / Took everything I loved and crushed it in between your fingers.” Imagine being that passionate of a Swiftie and then getting a call from Taylor that’s like, “Bitch, you chanted like me, so I’m taking half the royalties from your hit song.”

But it’s the bridge of “the grudge” that hurts the most. Olivia croons, “Ooh, do you think I deserved it all? / Ooh, your flowers filled with vitriol / You built me up to watch me fall / You have everything and you still want more.” She admits that even after everything, this person (Taylor) is still “everything” to her. For a woman who claims to be a feminist and says she wants to lift other women up, this was a baffling and disappointing decision on Taylor’s part. It is incredibly frustrating that Olivia will always associate this mess with one of her very best songs.