Juana Garcia/The Cougar
A love triangle controversy has taken over the internet and the music world with stars from “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.”
On Jan. 8, Olivia Rodrigo, a star from the show, released her single “Driver’s License” about a breakup with her co-star Joshua Bassett.
The heartfelt song set multiple records and quickly became No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single had a record-breaking first week on platforms like Amazon Music and Spotify.
The song expresses her emotions over her breakup and chatter among fans started brewing when the lyrics began to be analyzed.
“I think this drama really spiced up some conversation on all platforms of social media,” said bilingual education junior Victoria Diaz. “It was a good couple of weeks where all I saw on my social media timelines was the Olivia drama.”
Social media platforms such as Twitter and TikTok spoke about the song and the meaning behind it. The emotional ballad sparked up conversation and made everyone fall in love with the talented singer.
There has been speculation that the song referenced Disney star Sabrina Carpenter as “that blond girl”, according to BuzzFeed News.
Since then, there have been many interviews regarding the drama. In a James Corden interview, Carpenter was asked to address the controversy, but went around the question without directly answering.
On Feb. 20, “Saturday Night Live” created an entire skit addressing the controversy. Airing on Rodrigo’s birthday, she tweeted it was the best birthday present ever. Bassett also posted a Tik Tok of his reaction to the skit calling it a “dream come true.”
Fans connected the line to Carpenter, who has been seen spending time with Bassett and is rumored to be dating him. Later that same month, Carpenter released her first single with Island Records titled “Skin,” which is allegedly a response to Rodrigo.
Capertener sings “maybe you didn’t mean it, maybe blond was the only rhyme,” which People magazine speculated was addressing Rodrigo’s song.
After listening to Carpenter’s song, Diaz thinks that Carpenter’s references to “Driver’s License” were likely made to gain popularity on her song as well.
“The lyrics in (Carpenter’s) song were directed at what Olivia sang about. It almost felt like she was attacking Olivia,” Diaz said.
However, others like online magazine Billboard believe the reference in Rodrigo’s song was not substantial enough for Carpenter to write an entire song addressing it.
“I truly believe that it was a publicity stunt,” Diaz said.
“It might be true that there was some sort of love triangle between Joshua, Sabrina and Olivia. but this was the perfect opportunity for them to get some attention for them and their new season of ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.’“
