Last summer, was, definitively,  Brat. Born of Charli XCX's seminal fifth album, everything was about dressing Brat, living Brat, being Brat. People asked each other what "brat" meant, before assigning a definition like "irreverent," or inanimate, consumable objects like Aperol Spritzes or Capri cigarettes. Tank tops with no bras underneath. We were happy, living once again in a monoculture of the likes hadn't been seen since Katy Perry's Teenage Dream. And more importantly, after what felt like years of heatless curling, lemon water-drinking, journaling and everything showering, we could be messy party girls with no consequences. 

Enter: summer of '25. If felt a lot different, and that's because it was. As such, there was no definitive song—or album—of the season, rather scattered releases from pop mainstays like Tate McCrae or melancholic musings from Laufey or newcomer Sombr (when asked who she'd been listening to all season, Charli simply responded with, "Me."). Adding insult to injury, Sabrina Carpenter's album, Man's Best Friend, was timed for Labor Weekend—around the same time that Taylor Swift announced her 12th project, The Life Of A Showgirl, debuting October 3. 

It began innocently enough, with The Life Of A Showgirl track list. The song "Actually Romantic" could have been about anything — luxuriating in the honeymoon phase, perhaps — but fans, instead, pointed out that it was the seventh track of the album, the same order as "Everything Is Romantic," Charli XCX's song on Brat. Then, the album dropped. And while its initial reception was mixed — some considering the project Taylor and her glitter gel pen at their campiest, while others declaring it, well, a little cringe — everyone could agree on one thing: "Actually Romantic" is about Charli XCX. 

On of the most memorable Brat tracks, "Sympathy Is A Knife," Charli laments how insecure she feels around a successful peer. Fans immediately alleged the song was about Taylor Swift. There's history there — Charli previously opened for Swift during her Reputation World Tour and was a guest at one of her 1989 World Tour shows — but Charli also referenced seeing her peer backstage at her "boyfriend's show," and both she and Taylor were dating members of The 1975. It could have been received as an incendiary diss by Ms. Swift, but instead, she praised Charli in her New York Magazine cover story as an exceptional writer, finally getting her flowers. 

“I’ve been blown away by Charli’s melodic sensibilities since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011,” Swift told the outlet. “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.”

So yeah, this feels out of left field. 

Before you start pledging your allegiance, what happens when two (very adult) women start trading musical blows? Well, mutual exposure. Sympathy Is A Knife" streams leapt after the release of TLOAS, and Charli subsequently released "Everything is Romantic," featuring Caroline Polachek, as a single. Charli's first response to the diss track was a TikTok with the caption "I'm in a movie and it premiered today," presumably referencing Taylor Swift's The Life Of A Showgirl visualizer in theaters.

“It’s sort of a love letter to someone who hates you,” Swift said of “Actually Romantic" in the film. “I don’t hate you. And I don’t think about this. But like, thank you for all the effort, honestly, that is... wow. That is very, very sweet of you to think about me this much, even if it’s negative. In my industry, attention is affection when you’re getting a whole lot of it, so…”

Charli followed up with a short clip indicating she was back in the studio.  

Which leads us to the most exciting consequence of all: great music. "Actually Romantic," is one of, if not the best song on Taylor's album. Think back, also, to "Girl, So Confusing," where Charli XCX addresses her complicated friendship with Lorde, with Lorde herself. Not only did the track become one of the most-popular songs on the album, but a global meme (cc: "work it out on the remix"). Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood," in which she called out Katy Perry," also charted at number one on the pop charts. It was, ironically, also produced by Max Martin and Shellback, the masterminds behind The Life Of A Showgirl. Beefs also gave us "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar, "Hit 'Em Up" by Tupac, Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River." Without them, where would we be?

Some are calling an industry-changing, boots-shaking collaboration that would bring them back together. Others think they'll go back-2-back, until there is a clear winner (remember Katy Perry's "Swish Swish" response to "Bad Blood"?). Either way, we'll be seated, while both artists laugh all the way to the bank. And when you think about it, that's feminism.