With everyone stuck at home during 2020, fans grasped at straws for any news there was in order to stay sane. One of those newsworthy moments was the drama that occured between Disney star and newcomer to the music scene Olivia Rodrigo and her High School Musical: The Musical: The Series castmate Joshua Bassett.
The "scandal" not only inspired an album from Rodrigo, which has since earned her seven Grammy nominations, but brought out some tunes from Joshua himself. Not only did he also produce music in the midst of the drama but he is set to bring some new tea to the ice cold gossip by releasing three more tracks. Fans are excited to hear what truths this music could bring.
6 What Went Down?
The reason Joshua Bassett has been under heat was due to rumors circling about his involvement with rumored girlfriend and castmate Olivia Rodrigo. Fans believe the two were together and broke up in 2020. Fans were outraged when Bassett was rumored to be dating singer Sabrina Carpenter, coming to a head when a Tiktok showed the two in a seemingly couple costume as they were dressed as Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Fans took that to mean the two were official, despite neither Carpenter or Bassett confirming nor denying the rumors.
5 Rumors Spiral
But later in the year, Olivia Rodrigo came out with the song “driver’s license” (which would later be track three on her album SOUR) with many fans connecting the lyrics with Bassett and her rumored relationship. The line “you're probably with that blonde girl” sent many Rodrigo fans into a frenzy with many of them blaming Carpenter for the breakup. Olivia also released the song “déjà vu” which is about an ex moving on to another, so many made the connection to not only the song “driver’s license” but also to both Bassett and Carpenter.
4 Things Turned 'Sour'
When suspected ex Olivia released her debut album SOUR, many speculated the songs were about Joshua Bassett due to the initial release of track three. Many fans also related other songs to the Joshua rumor, especially the three fan favorites “traitor”, “happier” and “good 4 u”. With these new tracks as evidence, fans took to social media to call him out but it didn’t stop there. Fans sent hate and threats to both Bassett and Carpenter during the album’s first couple months out. Joshua later admitted to reading them while in the hospital with septic shock and heart failure (just two days after the release of “driver’s license”)
3 'Lie Lie Lie'
Despite the hatred he received, Joshua didn’t speak on the issue besides congratulating Rodrigo on her success on social media and releasing a track of his own. Bassett released the song “Lie, Lie, Lie” which many took to believe that it was about the recent scandal since it was about being thrown under a bus and thus about Olivia. This was seemingly confirmed by fans when Sabrina Carpenter also released a single in the same time frame called “Skin” which referenced a "driver’s license" lyric when Carpenter sang: “maybe you didn’t mean it / maybe blonde was the only rhyme". The two received backlash from Rodrigo fans but also some love from fans who thought that the “stans” were taking it too far. Some were even mad with Rodrigo, not for speaking her truth but for not denouncing fans who acted mean and instead did nothing.
2 'Look What You Made Me Do'
On November 15th, Joshua released a teaser for a three part song series that he intends to release on December 3rd. The teaser revealed the lyrics “my label said to never waste a crisis” which sent many Rodrigo fans flocking to his comments. He also released teasers for part two and three of his song series. Part Two was labeled “Secret” with lyrics like “pulled into your driveaway” and “I should have seen it coming” with many making the connection to Rodrigo’s driving references in her music. The last of the three, “Set Me Free” was revealed in a TikTok with Joshua singing while sitting in the shower (fully clothed). The lyrics revealed were “I don’t know what I did to deserve all this” and “I’ve been going through it too” which had many fans thinking it could potentially be about the hate he received from fans.
1 (Joshua’s Version)
When his teasers were released, many fans jumped to twitter to talk about what these songs could entail. Many fans wrote that Joshua is in his "reputation" era, referencing how Taylor Swift dropped all social media but returned with a dark persona and a new project. Many speculate that Joshua is going to spill the “real tea” about his rumored relationships as he removed all his Instagram pictures besides the teasers. It’s not just fans making the connection to Swift as even TikTok's official account responded to his latest tweet with “(Joshua Version)” in reference to Taylor’s newest re-record Red. Joshua recently released another lyric teaser video from his three part series (but didn't reveal which song it’s from), which included the lyric “if you get to tell your truth then so do I”.
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