In what was both her debut as a musical artist and a major diss against a not-so-anonymous ex-boyfriend, Olivia Rodrigo released the album Sour in 2021. The most talked-about track was, of course, drivers license (stylized as such), which centered on a breakup around the time she got her driver's license. Fans put two and two together and were sure that the song was about Joshua Bassett, Olivia's reported ex-boyfriend and co-star on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
The Disney darling artist raked in a load of cash from drivers license, and the song also propelled her into the spotlight. The thing is, it also pushed Joshua and another Disney star into the public eye, too — and the fan response from Olivia's camp wasn't great.
Olivia's Fans Were Quick To Drag Joshua Bassett
When Olivia's song first came out, the internet was abuzz with theories about her lyrics, which refer to a blonde girl that's older than her, and how her man ditched her for said girl not long after their breakup.
It's a classic 'the girl he told her not to worry about' story, but the thing was, fans took it very seriously. Despite the fact that by the time the song was released, Olivia and her ex had been split up for quite some time, fans were happy to stick up for Rodrigo (whether she wanted them to or not).
In an interview with GQ in December 2021, Joshua related that he'd seen comments online that threatened his safety; fans of Olivia said they would beat him up or worse if they saw him in person.
A lot of his songs, which were coming out around that time, spoke to the PR storm he was part of through the year, and, as GQ notes, "an ex who seems to twist the truth for publicity."
The Lyrical Battle Went Back And Forth (And Around Again)
After Olivia's chart-topping track came out, Joshua had music of his own that spoke to fans. Some of his lyrics seemed to address the drama at that time, and even newer tracks circle back to that one catty ex.
New music that came out in late 2022 had fans clamoring for a listen and calling Joshua's new direction "an absolute serve" to the Olivia Rodrigo fans that dragged him.
Sabrina Carpenter also got in on the lyrical drama; her songs seem to alternate between riling up Olivia's fan base and suggesting that the purported love triangle never even happened.
In fact, both Sabrina and Joshua's respective song releases suggest that Rodrigo is the one manufacturing drama — and not clearing the air when she could have.
While Olivia's album release didn't necessarily go off without a hitch (she was accused of copying Hole's album art and imitating a Paramore song), she did seem to come out of the PR storm relatively unscathed.
Joshua's Fans Thought Olivia Should Have Spoken Up Sooner
Commenting on the GQ interview, fans of Bassett suggested that Olivia should have done more to ease the pressure on Joshua.
While her song rocketed up the Spotify charts, Olivia didn't address the controversy head-on in any meaningful way, commenters point out. In fact, she didn't seem to say anything until at least seven months afterward. And then? She made a statement about not hating "other women" because of "boys."
Fans of Joshua didn't think it was enough, though some did acknowledge that Olivia has since said she didn't know drivers license would get the reaction it did.
True, who could have predicted how much hype the song would create, and the Disney love triangle that would result?
But when online commenters (and even the most respectable publications) began speculating about the relationships behind the lyrics, fans just think Olivia should have done more.
Of course, fans pointed out that Joshua's story didn't entirely line up, either.
An earlier interview quotes him as saying he and Olivia had "laughed about the drama that followed them," suggesting that, contrary to later interviews, they weren't speaking any longer.
At that time, Joshua called Olivia "amazing" and said "all is well" with both them and HSMTMTS (which was wrapping its season at the time).
That interview also covered a song that Bassett and Carpenter collaborated on, though it was swapped with another track for the title spot, in order to minimize the drama and speculation about a possible relationship between the two, per ET Online.
