Students split over ‘Drivers License’ drama

By Kylie O'Connor, Multimedia & Social Media Editor

With 17 year old, recently licensed driver Olivia Rodrigo’s new single, “Driver’s License” shattering records and putting her in the spotlight, listeners have been making their own predictions about the meaning behind the song. While everyone knows the song is about a teen romance love triangle between her, Joshua Bassett, costar on their show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series featured on Disney+, and Sabrina Carpenter (otherwise known as “that blonde girl”), fans are still scrambling to produce theories as to what went down. 

When Rodrigo’s song was first released, it immediately caught everyone’s attention and called out Bassett for his assumed bad treatment towards her. Meanwhile, the music industry and its followers praised and empathized with Rodrigo listening to the song on repeat and blowing up social media.

“Clearly Joshua Bassett played Olivia and then just dropped for the older and technically more successful Sabrina Carpenter,” sophomore Alivia Sabato said. “It was messed up, and Joshua deserved a song written about him.”

However, in response to Rodrigo’s hit single, Bassett released a song of his own, the bluntly titled “Lie, Lie, Lie.” The title is pretty self explanatory; it shocked many of his fans, leaving some questioning and some with a growing dislike for Bassett.

“I don’t know, the timing of it all seems very interesting and kind of questionable since I think they are still currently filming their series together while this is all happening,” senior Jordyn Albanese said. ‘it’s not completely unheard of that this might be a big publicity stunt for everyone involved.”

“Bassett is clearly just trying to steal Olivia’s thunder and make it all about himself because he doesn’t want her to get all the fame and fortune,” senior Mike Aktas said. 

If the situation wasn’t confusing and complicated enough already, Carpenter has now thrown herself into the mix and released her own single, “Skin”. Followers of the whole issue don’t even know what to make of all the events.

“There was enough drama and theories already, we did not need Sabrina Carpenter to release a song to get a piece of the fame too,” Sabato said. “At some point they either have to speak out and release a statement or call it quits because I can’t look for the hidden meaning in another song.”