What Is This Drivers License Drama?
Join me in feeling old through this brief summary that no one asked for.

As a 23-year old woman, I’m really embarrassed at my effort to try to understand the drama between High School Musical: The Musical: The Series castmates, 17-year-old Driver’s License singer Olivia Rodrigo and 20-year-old Joshua Bassett, whose girlfriend Sabrina Carpenter, 21, is also involved. I never want to hear about them again, however seeing as I spend too much time on TikTok and these Gen-Z’ers continue to spark drama and do petty things, I find myself reeled back in.

Rodrigo came out with her hit song Driver’s License a week into 2021 and according to Rolling Stone, “from December to January, Rodrigo grew her streams by 178 million — a staggering 2,500% increase month-on-month. This marks the biggest breakthrough we’ve seen for a new artist in RS Charts history.” Although it is objectively a good song, part of its success is due to the fact people were hearing it repeatedly and painting it as a diss/heartbreak song aimed at Bassett’s and Carpenter’s supposed relationship. In her song, Rodrigo mentions an “older blonde girl” who “always made me doubt.” In case you weren’t aware (as I was) Sabrina Carpenter is in fact, blonde.

Elle Magazine explains that, “for a while, Sabrina remained tight-lipped about Drivers License and the rumours of a relationship with Joshua Bassett. But On January 22, she released a new song, Skin. The lyrics? ‘Maybe you didn't mean it / Maybe 'blonde' was the only rhyme.’” Queue me getting reeled back in… Elle continues, “on January 14, Joshua released Lie, Lie, Lie, an equally savage song with lyrics like ‘so you're telling them it's all my fault.’”

Thus the world of Gen Z was split between Team Olivia and Team Sabrina and Millennials were left scrambling trying to absorb all the drama their neighboring generation was thrusting at them. As if that’s not enough, now Seventeen says, “we've already gotten three great songs out of the Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, and Joshua Bassett love triangle, but now we are about to get a fourth. Sabrina and Joshua are releasing a collab together.” So, however much I want to be over this, it seems like Olivia and co. are playing–or singing–right into it.