Is Drivers License By Olivia Rodrigo a PR Stunt or True Love?

Drivers license by Olivia Rodrigo was released on January 8th, 2021. On January 11th, it broke Ariana Grande’s record of most streams for a female artist’s song in a single day in the United States on Spotify. This whirlwind hit was out of the blue for Rodrigo.

The song is about Rodrigo driving around by herself after getting her drivers license, singing about how her ex-boyfriend isn’t with her. She outlines how he’s with someone else now, which makes her even more hurt and confused. Many fans speculate this song is about Joshua Bassett, her co-star from High School Musical: The Musical - The Series. However, others question its validity, because season two of the show comes out this year, as well as more music from both parties.

How can we tell if this is the real deal or a publicity stunt? First, we will go through the song to see which lines are causing people to speculate who the song is about. After it’s shown how it’s most likely about Joshua Bassett, we will explore the details of this circumstance to determine whether or not this is a publicity stunt. Now, a critical analysis of a 17-year-old girl’s song, because this is what matters most in the world.

For some backstory, Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett have had dating rumors since they started the High School Musical Netflix series together. The leads of shows are always rumored to be love interests, so it was nothing new. Their chemistry was undeniable, and they were adorable on screen. However, after closer inspection, she had a boyfriend named Ethan Wacker for some of the time they were filming. The timelines are a bit hard to pin down, but they celebrated their six-month anniversary in January of 2019. The filming for the High School Musical show was February 15th to June 30th. In August 2019, Olivia, posted about a different boy, Colin Haskins, on Instagram. This was presumably short lived since we’ve heard nothing else on the pairing, but it proves one thing. Wacker and Rodrigo broke up sometime between January and August. Coincidentally, this is the time in which Rodrigo was filming with Bassett. This could be a huge coincidence, but it makes it seem like the content in Drivers License has a possibility of being true.

Olivia Rodrigo starts Drivers License off with, “I got my drivers license last week, just like we always talked about.” Rodrigo had previously stated in an interview Josh took her driving around a parking lot for the first time, because she didn’t have her drivers license yet. This is the first clue the song is about Bassett.

She continues with, “Because you were so excited for me to finally drive up to your house, but today I drove through the suburbs crying because you weren’t around.” This shows how he’s no longer in her immediate circle, and the reason for this will be elaborated on in the next line.

“You’re probably with that blonde girl, who always made me doubt, she’s so much older than me, she’s everything I’m insecure about.” This line captures one of the biggest reasons people think the song is about Bassett. Bassett posted a Tik Tok on November 1st, 2020 with a different Disney star, Sabrina Carpenter. She is blonde, beautiful, and 21 years old. Bassett and Carpenter were also spotted going out for lunch on August 16th, 2020. These lyrics show he is now with a blonde girl, who Rodrigo knows he’s always been a fan of. He gave an interview at an award show before he’d even met Rodrigo or Carpenter, but with Rodrigo coincidentally interviewing him. Rodrigo asked everyone who they were excited to see that night, and another actor answered, “Sabrina Carpenter.” Bassett reacted with excitement and shock that she was there that night by saying, “Oh, she’s here?!” He had a huge smile on his face, so she was clearly a celebrity crush. This would enhance the feelings of doubt when Rodrigo sings, “Who always made me doubt.” If you knew your boyfriend had a celebrity crush, you’d doubt his friendship with this crush as well.

The line, “She’s so much older than me,” is clear as day, since Carpenter is four years older than Rodrigo. Her saying, “She’s everything I’m insecure about,” would refer to Carpenter’s beautiful appearance, despite Rodrigo also being a beautiful girl.

Cut to the chorus, and Rodrigo sings, “Guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me.” This major clue suggests the person she’s singing about is also a singer, and one who’d recently released a song. Bassett released a song titled, “Anyone Else,” in which he describes wanting a girl who has a boyfriend. He sings about waiting for the relationship to end to be together, as well as it killing him that he can’t be with her. This is assumed to be the song Rodrigo states is about her. However, obviously, he decided to move on and be with Carpenter instead. Therefore, when he’s singing, “I’m done pretending I want anyone else,” he must not have meant it, because now she’s single and he does, in fact, want someone else.

Rodrigo finishes the chorus with, “You said forever now I drive alone past your street.” She has now gotten her drivers license but he isn’t in her life anymore. So, all their plans of her being able to drive to his house on her own were put in the past.

During the bridge of the song, she sings, “I still see your face in the white cars.” This final line really puts the nail on the coffin. Bassett owns a white car, which is what he taught her to drive in. These clues make it seem quite obvious it’s about her co-star. Now, to determine the evidence that this is a publicity stunt.

The classic trope of co-stars falling in love attracts all audiences. Since season two of their show is coming out this year, a rocky romance turned sour would bring tons of attraction to the series. People would want to watch the show and analyze which parts they’re acting, and which parts they’re genuinely liking each other. These two young stars want to become famous, and there’s nothing better than a workplace romance to put their names in people’s mouths. Many people knew nothing about Rodrigo, Bassett, or the show before the controversy arose. Everyone on the social media platform Tik Tok are taking sides (mainly Rodrigo’s) and are calling for justice, without knowing anything about the situation twenty four hours prior. This is the perfect way to go from D-List to B-List over night. It is a tried-and-true method to increase popularity. So, if a couple has big projects coming out soon, be wary of their relationships.

If they aren’t famous yet, or their popularity is dwindling, they will fake a relationship. In Rodrigo and Basset’s case, they aren’t famous enough yet. Now, you may be thinking, “My favorite celebrity would never fake a relationship, they’re too honest.” If your publicist comes to you and asks, “Will you pretend to date this hot celebrity in exchange for the career of your dreams?” A large amount would say yes. In show business, there are much worse things that could happen than a couple of fake relationships.

A sign of a fake relationship in general, that didn’t happen with these two, is red carpet events and photo ops. If it was a planned fake relationship, they would’ve become less private and tried to make themselves into a cute couple before the breakup saga. They haven’t shown any photos or physical proof of a relationship, which is concerning and takes away some suspicion of a publicity stunt. After all, if the purpose is publicity, they should’ve been attending more events and causing a stir.

A typical fake relationship contract would last three years, but that isn’t the case for Rodrigo and Bassett. Further, Bassett has shown support for Rodrigo’s song, making a post congratulating her on its release. Which would be strange for a diss track about him.

However, now Bassett is releasing his own song for his upcoming album titled, “Lie Lie Lie”. Wonder who that’s about? It outlines him being angry at a girl who’s talking poorly about him to everyone. There’s very little chance it was written and produced so quickly, so it makes it seem set up.

The back-and-forth of songs written about each other is suspicious. While they could have very well been together and loved each other, there is a lot of evidence suggesting otherwise. Or at least that they were together, but then realized they can use it for publicity. Season two of their Netflix show coming out soon. Their desire to be famous, along with their upcoming singles and albums make this out to be a bit too much of a coincidence. While I will still cry to Drivers License in the shower and feel every piece of emotion the song begs of me, this is too perfectly set up. Rodrigo and Bassett are aware of what this will do for their careers and are capitalizing on the publicity of their romance. I really, truly, want to believe it. But the signs say otherwise.

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