Taylor Swift fans have been left convinced that her latest glamorous photoshoot included a subtle ‘Easter Egg’ hinting at a major feud.
The American songstress, 35, was seen draped in a gold chainmail dress custom-made by New York-based designer Kelsey Randall in a behind-the-scenes look at her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
In one picture, which she shared to her Instagram account, Taylor glamorously perched on a white table with a black heeled foot in the air, alongside a glass of white wine and a plate of tomato spaghetti.
Swifties soon speculated that the seemingly innocuous pasta dish, which was given pride of place in the photograph, was actually a veiled dig at fellow pop princess Charli XCX and The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, whom Taylor briefly dated in 2023.
Rumours of a growing feud between Taylor and Charli came to a head last week after the lyrics of Taylor’s new track Actually Romantic were revealed: ‘I heard you call me “Boring Barbie” when the coke’s got you brave’ – which some listeners interpreted as a pointed jab at Charli.
Fans were left convinced that Taylor’s latest shoot was ‘shading’ the Brat singer and referred to backlash she and her friends, including Matty and his fiancée Gabbriette Bechtel, received after her Grammy afterparty dinner, when they filmed themselves eating pasta with their hands.
In addition, Charli and her new husband, The 1975’s George Daniel, were said to have enjoyed a ‘family style meal’ of the dish at an Italian restaurant in Dalston after tying the knot in Hackney Town Hall in July.
A source told The Sun at the time: ‘Charli’s wedding reception was the epitome of Brat. Her and George wanted to keep it very cool, so they shunned cars and walked down Hackney High Street to get to Dalla’.
Taylor Swift fans have been left convinced that her latest glamorous photoshoot included a subtle ‘ Easter Egg’ hinting at a major feud
‘The restaurant had closed for them and they had a massive family style meal with loads of pasta and champagne.
Before adding: ‘People walking past were stunned when they saw Charli and George having a cheeky pre-dinner cigarette outside.’
At the meal in February, which was also attended by the likes of Lorde and Troye Sivan, Gabbriette filmed herself eating pasta with her hands, declaring it to be a part of ‘brat summer’ – the name of Charli’s most recent album.
At the time, the video went viral on social media, with one person even accusing them of ‘making a mess’ for ‘minimum wage workers to clean up’.
Taking to social media this week, Swifties soon jumped to conclusions that Taylor’s photo was ‘shading’ Charli, amid ongoing rumours of a feud between them.
As well as the pasta, fans soon noted that Taylor had made sure that, unlike Gabbriette, she had a fork to eat the meal with.
In a picture Charli had shared of the dinner, Gabbriette was seen in a similar pose to Taylor, and wearing an almost identical black heeled shoe.
One person theorised: ‘Since I saw this picture I found it so odd, like the blocking the emptiness/lack of props, the spaghetti (someone here said what showgirl eats a whole plate of spaghetti between breaks).
A video of Charli and her friends went viral on social media earlier this year, with one person even accusing them of ‘making a mess’ for ‘minimum wage workers to clean up’
Fans were convinced the spaghetti was a reference to Charli’s ‘pasta incident’ and even noted that her friend Gabbriette Bechtel, who is engaged to Taylor’s ex Matty Healy, was wearing similar shoes
Gabbriette filmed herself eating pasta with her hands, declaring it to be a part of ‘brat summer’
‘Plus the pose seems so uncomfortable to do on a table (her inability to serve put aside). then someone on Tiktok pointed out the picture from Charli’s Instagram and how Gabriette’s posing.’
Others also made comparisons, taking to X/Twitter to write: ‘THE PASTA OH DONT END CHARLI LJEJDISKEU’;
‘The Charli pasta incident shade??!!’;
‘Is this plate of pasta a reference to that video of Charli?’;
‘The spaghetti with a fork after that disgusting charli video she hates her BADDDD.’
Gabbriette later said she ‘absolutely did not’ regret the spaghetti video and that she would ‘do it again right now’, saying: ‘Babe, we ate the food.’
In Actually Romantic, Taylor, who is now engaged to NFL star Travis Kelce, sings: ‘High-fived my ex and then you said you’re glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face’ – seemingly a reference to Charli’s friendship with Matty.
She also hints that the singer in question is seemingly obsessed with her, adding: ‘But it’s actually sweet / All the time you’ve spent on me / It’s honestly wild.’
Are former tour mates Charli XCX and Taylor Swift feuding? Pictured together onstage in 2018
The pair have known each other for years – with Taylor bringing Charli out as a support act on her 2018 reputation tour – but, more recently, many have speculated there is growing bad blood between the pair.
Charli, whose real name is Charlotte Emma Aitchison, is married to George Daniels from the 1975, meaning she has grown closer with his bandmate Matty in recent years.
Gabbriette, meanwhile, is a long-time friend of Charli who has previously appeared in her music videos.
During Taylor’s 2018 Reputation stadium tour, Charli opened for the 14-time Grammy Award winner on more than 50 nights.
But the first hint of trouble seemed to brew the following year in 2019, as while speaking to Pitchfork, Charli said: ‘As an artist, it kind of felt like I was getting up onstage and waving to 5-year-olds.’
She went on to say following the tour she it made her decide to never open for anyone again.
Charli added: ‘I’ve done so much of it, and it really cemented my status as this underdog character, I need to just own my own f***ing s*** finally.’
Following backlash, she later took to her social media to say her comments had been taken out of context, insisting: ‘As I say in the article and have said many times before, I am extremely grateful to Taylor for inviting me to open for her.
‘She’s one of the biggest artists of my generation and the Reputation tour was one of the biggest tours in history.’
She said that, prior to the tour, she had been playing ’18+ club shows’ and performing for ‘all ages’ had been ‘new to me’.
A month later, she seemed to imply everything was all good between them once more, telling the Sunday Brunch talk show: ‘She’s an incredible businesswoman and she’s really kind. She makes us feel, like, so welcome. It feels like a girl gang on tour together, it’s really good.’
Taylor’s new lyrics are not the first time the pair seem to have taken aim at each other purely through their song lyrics.
Fans believe Actually Romantic contains a reference to Charli with the lyrics ‘high fived my ex’. Taylor and Matty pictured in 2023
In Sympathy Is a Knife, the third track on Charli’s 2024 album BRAT, the singer describes feeling anxiety about another woman, singing: ‘I couldn’t even be her if I tried’.
In the lyrics she also says, ‘Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back / I hope they break up quick’.
Although the song is not critical about anyone, fans started speculating that the song was about Taylor as she was dating Matty when Charli likely wrote the lyrics.
Another line read: ‘It’s a knife when you’re finally on top… / They want to see you fall,’ which could be a reference to Taylor’s chart dominance.
Moreover, Taylor’s new tune Actually Romantic is believed to be a comeback to Charli’s 2018 track Everything Is Romantic.
However, Charli appeared to address the rumoured rift in an article with New York magazine in August last year.
She said: ‘People are gonna think what they want to think. That song is about me and my feelings and my anxiety and the way my brain creates narratives and stories in my head when I feel insecure and how I don’t want to be in those situations physically when I feel self-doubt.’
Taylor also contributed to the article and gushed she is ‘blown away’ by the Brat singer’s music.
The Fearless songstress said: ‘I’ve been blown away by Charli’s melodic sensibilities since I first heard “Stay Away” in 2011. Her writing is surreal and inventive, always. She just takes a song to places you wouldn’t expect it to go, and she’s been doing it consistently for over a decade. I love to see hard work like that pay off.’