Charli XCX feud with Taylor Swift and savage song swipe ahead of Glasto set

Pop star Charli XCX is all set to headline the Other Stage on Saturday, June 28, at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. Emily Eavis, co-organiser of the annual music festival, recently revealed that in 2025, her team has created more room for audiences at the Other Stage, — which happens to be the iconic music extravaganza’s second-biggest arena, and also where Charli XCX is performing her headlining set.

Charli XCX's journey to pop-stardom has come with its fair share of headline-grabbing moments, including a much speculated feud with another mega pop icon with an unprecedented fanbase — Taylor Swift.

For several years now, the world of music has been abuzz with whispers of an impassioned feud between Charli and Taylor — and the former’s soft jabs and subtle hints over the years have only fanned the flames of the seemingly inextinguishable fire.

Once close friends, the pair’s friendship reportedly turned sour and it seems there may be no love lost between the two chart-toppers.

So why does the world think the two musicians are at loggerheads? Let’s take a closer look at their alleged feud.

READ MORE: Glastonbury 2025 secret sets – all the stars rumoured to be surprising festival-goers this weekend

Charli XCX’s comments after touring with Taylor Swift in 2018

After touring with Taylor in 2018, Charli seemingly threw shade at Swifties — Taylor’s ultra-dedicated fanbase — adding fuel to the fire of their speculated clash.

Charli XCX had joined Taylor Swift on her Reputation tour as an opening act. Despite the opportunity to perform in front of thousands, she expressed dissatisfaction with the fanbase.

Speaking to Pitchfork after the tour, Charli said: "As an artist, it kind of felt like I was getting up onstage and waving to five-year-olds."

She did however say she was "really grateful" for the opportunity and later clarified that her comments had been blown out of proportion. Following backlash online, Charli took to Twitter/X to explain herself.

She wrote: "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 further clarified that her comment referred to the timing of her performance, as she was used to performing at a later slot. "Leading up to that tour I'd been playing a (ton) of 18+ club shows, and so to be onstage in front of all ages was new to me and made me approach my performances with a whole new kind of energy," she added.

Charli’s statement before the release of her album Brat

Before the eagerly anticipated release of Charli’s chart-topping album BRAT on June 7, 2024, the singer took to TikTok and shared a “brat PSA” in which she warned her fans not to read too deeply into any of the lyrics and take out hidden meanings.

Apart from her single Von Dutch which was released in February that same year, Charli clarified in her TikTok video PSA: “The other tracks in question aren’t diss tracks. They’re really just about how it’s so complicated being an artist, especially a female artist, where you are pitted against your peers and also expected to be best friends with every single person constantly, when if you’re not, you’re deemed a bad feminist.”

But even with the warning, Charli’s sixth studio album seemed to fan the flames of the dispute, with one song in particular, titled Sympathy Is A Knife, sparking speculation among fans with its lyrics: “Don't wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend's show, Fingers crossed behind my back, I hope they break up quick.”

Many believed the third track on her album to be a dig at Taylor's past relationship with Matty Healy — the frontman of The 1975 — who happens to be bandmates with Charli's fiancé George Daniel.

In an interview with Vulture, Charli explained: “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.”

Charli retweets Taylor

After Taylor Swift tweeted a positive review of her latest album The Tortured Poets Department, Charli quote-tweeted the pop star on her X (previously Twitter) profile and wrote: “everyone’s hype for the sweat tour!”, seemingly in an effort to put the feud rumours to rest.

Matty Healy in the middle

After Taylor Swift and Matty Healy’s publicised breakup, The 1975 singer went on to date model and musician Gabbriette Bechtel, who also happens to be the former bandmate and close friend of Charli XCX. Just days after Charli’s Brat album release, the pop star shared a picture on social media of what looked like Matty’s black diamond engagement ring for Gabbriette with the caption “MARRYING THE 1975 IS VERY BRAT”. Matty and Gabbriette went on to confirm their engagement and the public post was taken as a sign of Charli choosing sides, especially after those lyrics.

Charli asks fans to stop the anti-Taylor chants at her shows

In June 2024, Charli came out with a strong statement in support of Taylor, after videos of some of her Brazilian fans chanting “Death to Taylor” in Portuguese began circulating after her São Paulo show.

Taking to Instagram stories, the singer wrote: “Can the people who do this please stop. Online or at my shows. It is the opposite of what I want and it disturbs me that anyone would think there is room for this in this community.”

Taylor Swift praises Charli XCX

In an August 2024 New York Magazine profile of the Brat pop star, Taylor showered high praise on her ex touring mate and 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.”

Remix of Sympathy Is a Knife

In the same Vulture profile, Charli XCX shared that she’s toying with the idea of releasing a remix of the popular track from her album, sharing: “I wrote this three or four weeks ago, about this idea of, like, you have to fall–if you’re deemed to be even in the slightest way on top, you have to fall. I’m not a f—ing idiot. I know how shit works.”

Even though both stars have continuously denied the rumours of a feud in their own ways over the years, some fans remain sceptical.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Threads.