Sabrina Carpenter is shutting down speculations on what her new song is about. According to the actress/singer it’s not a “diss track,” nor is it “calling out a single person.”
Sabrina went on Instagram on Saturday (January 23) to give fans the lowdown on her latest single, “Skin,” which dropped last week.
“thank you to everyone who has listened to skin 🤍 especially those who have opened their minds to lyrically what i was trying to get across,” she began, explaining, “i wasn’t bothered by a few lines in a (magnificent) song and wrote a diss track about it. i was at a tipping point in my life for countless reasons. so i was inspired to do what i usually do to cope, write something that i wish i could have told myself in the past.”
“people can only get to you if you give them the power to. and a lot of people were trying to get to me,” she continued. “the song isn’t calling out one single person. some lines address a specific situation, while other lines address plenty of other experiences I’ve had this past year. it also shows that many things have actually gotten under my skin.. and I’m still learning to not give other people so much power over my feelings. I know a lot of you struggle with the same thing.”
“i don’t want this to become an endless cycle so please don’t take this as an opportunity to send more hate anyone’s way,” she added, concluding her message with: “lots of love to u all. thanks for letting me grow.”
In case you’re wondering what this whole thing is about, it all started when Olivia dropped her debut single “Driver’s License” earlier this month. Fans speculated that the song may have been about the alleged love triangle involving rumored ex-BF Joshua Bassett and Sabrina Carpenter, whom he’s been hanging out with a lot lately.
Although Olivia and Joshua never really confirmed they ever dated, fans are theorizing Olivia and Joshua may have gone through a big breakup based on the lyrics “Guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me / ‘Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street.”
And while neither Joshua and Sabrina have also confirmed that they are together, fans think there’s a Sabrina reference in song because of the lyrics: “And you’re probably with that blonde girl / Who always made me doubt / She’s so much older than me / She’s everything I’m insecure about.”
Then, a week later, Joshua released a song called “Lie Lie Lie” – and fans think it also contains references to the rumored love triangle drama with lyrics like, “I know what you said about me / I hope that it makes you happy / You can’t seem to get me off your mind,” and some also think that the music video, which features Joshua driving through the desert is also a reference to the music video for “Driver’s License.
When “Skin” dropped last week, fans began wondering if it was a response to Olivia’s song because of lyrics like: “Maybe we could’ve been friends/ If I met you in another life/ 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” and “And I’m not asking you to let it go but/ You been tellin’ your side/ So I’ll be tellin’ mine,” and “You can try/ To get under my under my under my skin/ While he’s on mine,” as well as, “Don’t drive yourself insane.”
Olivia has also addressed the rumors surrounding her track “Driver’s License” during an interview with Billboard last week.
“I totally understand people’s curiosity with the specifics of who the song’s about and what it’s about, but to me, that’s really the least important part of the song,” she said. “It’s resonating with people because of how emotional it is, and I think everything else is not important.”
“To see it do really well — to have this really painful moment in my life, and turn it into something beautiful that can maybe help people through a tough time that they’re having, like I was having a tough time — it’s just so empowering,” Olivia added. “I feel grateful that I got to do that.”
