Did Taylor Swift inspire vampire by Olivia Rodrigo?

London, UK - Olivia Rodrigo has weighed in on the bizarre theories swirling that Taylor Swift inspired her recent hit single, vampire.

Olivia Rodrigo (l) has responded to rumors that her song vampire was inspired by Taylor Swift.
Olivia Rodrigo (l) has responded to rumors that her song vampire was inspired by Taylor Swift.  © Collage: Screenshot/Instagram/oliviarodrigo & taylorswift

The 20-year-old responded directly to the speculation surrounding the first single off her next album, GUTS, during an interview with The Guardian published on Saturday.

"How do I answer this? I never want to say who any of my songs are about," Rodrigo said. "I've never done that before in my career and probably won't. I think it's better to not pigeonhole a song to being about this one thing."

"I was very surprised when people thought that," she added of the Swift rumors.

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Though vampire seems to be a break-up track targeted at one of Rodrigo's former flames, some fans theorized that it could actually be about her supposed feud with the 33-year-old musician.

The Disney+ star has been a long-time Swiftie, and the pair had exchanged mutual support around the releases of Rodrigo's drivers license and Swift's Fearless (Taylor's Version) in 2021.

Since then, though, the singers have not interacted publicly, and some believe the copyright issues within SOUR may have contributed to Rodrigo no longer praising Swift on social media or in interviews.

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Olivia Rodrigo (r) retroactively gave Taylor Swift songwriting credit on deja vu after naming Swift's Cruel Summer as an inspiration.
Olivia Rodrigo (r) retroactively gave Taylor Swift songwriting credit on deja vu after naming Swift's Cruel Summer as an inspiration.  © Collage: KEVIN WINTER & Jon Kopaloff / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

After naming Swift's Cruel Summer as an inspiration for her own song deja vu in 2021, Rodrigo later gave the Karma artist and collaborators Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent songwriting credits, thus awarding them 50% of the royalties on her song.

Swift and Antonoff were also credited on 1 step forward, 3 steps back, which features a sample of New Year's Day from Reputation, but that credit was given from the start.

The retroactive deja vu royalty cut is what some believe Rodrigo was referring to when she sings in vampire that the song's subject was "bleeding her dry."

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Still, many fans find the ongoing theories rather bizarre, especially considering the song's allusion to an older boyfriend taking advantage of her as the main theme of the track.

Rodrigo's sophomore album, GUTS, drops on Friday.

Cover photo: Collage: Screenshot/Instagram/oliviarodrigo & taylorswift

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