Has Taylor Swift's new Eras Tour opener sparked bad blood with Olivia Rodrigo?
London, UK - Taylor Swift has reportedly renewed her alleged feud with Olivia Rodrigo after selecting Griff as one of her newest opening acts on The Eras Tour.
According to a new report from The Sun, Griff "had to distance herself from Olivia" in order to score the slot on the 34-year-old pop star's sold-out tour.
Griff and the 21-year-old singer are said to have become close after they met at the Brit Awards and were "really supportive of each other."
However, when Griff's team got word of Taylor's interest in making her an opener, things changed.
"When Griff's team were told about the approach from Taylor, Griff was advised that distancing herself from Olivia might be the best course of action," an insider said.
"Supporting Taylor on her Eras tour is a massive opportunity for her, and they didn't want anything stopping that happening."
The encouraged distance meant that the 23-year-old Brit skipped out on the launch party for Olivia's sophomore album, GUTS, last September.
"It's been hard for Olivia because she really gets on with Griff. She knows too it isn't Griff's fault, it just feels like a shame to her," the source added.
What's the story behind Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo's alleged feud?
The lore behind Taylor and Olivia's supposed bad blood runs deep, but things started out quite differently.
The vampire artist was a loud and proud Swiftie when she first hit the music scene in early 2021 with her debut single, drivers license. The song's success even earned some praise from Taylor, who later recruited Olivia to help promote Fearless (Taylor's Version).
But when Olivia's debut album, SOUR, arrived and quickly topped the charts, the situation took a turn.
Some Swifties accused the Disney+ star of copying Taylor's 2019 hit Cruel Summer in the track deja vu, and the Karma singer and her collaborators were subsequently granted songwriting credits and a cut of the royalties – without public comments from either party.
The quiet move didn't go unnoticed. Some accused Taylor of suing Olivia to get credit on the popular song, and many believe the plagiarism claims to have been quite a stretch in the first place.
Olivia and Taylor haven't interacted publicly since the songwriting debacle, but it looks like the rumored feud may be alive and well after all.
While the Down Bad artist hasn't commented directly on the allegations of a rivalry, Olivia denied such rumors in an interview last fall, saying simply, "I don't have beef with anyone. I'm chill."
Cover photo: Collage: Jason Kempin / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP & ANDRE DIAS NOBRE / AFP