Taylor Swift Says She’s ‘Blown Away’ by Charli XCX: ‘I Love to See Hard Work Like That Pay Off’

With just a few weeks left to go, Taylor Swift has officially joined in on Brat summer. While speaking to Vulture for a profile on Charli XCX, the 34-year-old pop superstar sang her former Reputation tourmate’s praises, complimenting everything from her songwriting to the success she’s seen this year with her sixth studio album. 

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

The 14-time Grammy winner added, “I love to see hard work like that pay off.” 

Swift’s remarks come amid rumors of tension between her and the “Boom Clap” singer, fueled by the latter’s Brat song “Sympathy Is a Knife,” which some fans believe is about the former. “This one girl taps my insecurities,” Charli sings on the track before seemingly referencing Swift’s romance last year with The 1975’s Matty Healy: “Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show.” 

Charli — who is engaged to the 1975’s George Daniel — touched on the song’s alleged pot stirring in her Vulture interview. “People are gonna think what they want to think,” she said. “That song is about me and my feelings and my anxiety and the way my brain creates narratives and stories in my head when I feel insecure and how I don’t want to be in those situations physically when I feel self-doubt.”  

When asked whether she considered omitting the line about being backstage at Daniel’s show to make the song’s subject less “obvious,” she simply said “No.” “You do the silence game,” she then told the reporter. “But I know that well — where you go silent and want me to talk more. But I don’t care about it being awkward. We’ll sit in silence.” 

Aside from “Sympathy Is a Knife,” Charli XCX and Swift’s efforts to dominate the Billboard 200 with their respective albums — Brat and The Tortured Poets Department, which has spent a total of 15 weeks at No. 1 so far — has also caused fans to speculate that there might be beef between the two singers. In June, the “Von Dutch” artist called out concertgoers who began chanting “Taylor is dead” at Charli’s shows, writing on Instagram Stories, “can the people who do this please stop … it is the opposite of what i want and it disturbs me that anyone would think there is room for this in this community.” 

Before that, though, Swift championed Charli by inviting her to perform as a special guest on the 1989 Tour in 2015. Three years later, the “Anti-Hero” musician asked the 32-year-old Brit to open for her on the Reputation Stadium Tour alongside Camila Cabello.  

In a 2019 interview, Charli was quoted as saying the Rep trek felt like “getting up on stage and waving to 5-year-olds,” shortly after which she clarified that she meant no shade. “I am extremely grateful to Taylor for inviting me to open for her,” she wrote at the time. “She’s one of the biggest artists of my generation and the reputation tour was one of the biggest tours in history.”