Charli XCX seemingly breaks silence on Taylor Swift controversy (2024)

Singer-songwriter Charli XCX seemingly responded to Taylor Swift recently nabbing the number one spot on the album charts from her in what some fans have called a "greedy" move.

Music fans took to social media over the weekend after brat, Charli XCX's much-hyped album, debuted at number 2 on the British charts. Brat is the best-rated album of 2024, according to Metacritic, but it was pipped at the post by Swift who released a new, limited edition of her April album The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD).

The limited edition of TTPD, which included new bonus tracks, was available in the United Kingdom only and meant that it has now secured six weeks at the top of the charts. It is now the longest running number one album on the charts in the U.K. and broke Swift's previous record of five weeks, with her 2020 album Midnights, according to Official Charts. The special TTPD was released into the U.K. market and coincided with Swift arriving in the country to perform her record-breaking Eras world tour there.

However, music fans believed the release was a strategic move to stop Charli XCX and to a lesser extent Bon Jovi from getting the top spot. Both artists were in a race to the top position, but Charli XCX pulled ahead of the New Jersey rockers later in the week and that's when Swift announced her new TTPD release.

"Taylor was going for her longest ever streak at number one on the UK albums charts. And just after the news broke that Charli was in number one, she (Swift) pulled this move and dropped more special editions of The Tortured Poets Department," podcaster Sam Murphy on TikTok late last week. "Now, I understand that some of these things are planned, but this was not a global release. This was specifically targeted to UK customers, which surely means it's about the charts."

He added: "It's just interesting to say this all being played out in real time, it's actually quite mind-boggling."

One social media user, @biglemonmuffin wrote on X, formerly Twitter, "Taylor swift is greedy and the farthest thing from a feminist, at least Charli has talent."

Charli XCX seemed to address the controversy during her world tour for brat, according to videos that were shared to TikTok.

During her Los Angeles show on Saturday, Charli XCX asked, "What's the next song?" and looked at the set list before realizing it was the song "Sympathy With A Knife" to which the audience cheered loudly.

"That's interesting," Charli XCX said before adding, "I just feel like artistry shines through."

Many fans on social media interpreted that as Charli XCX taking aim at Swift because many thought the song was about the "Bad Blood" singer and some of the lyrics include Charli XCX singing, "I don't want to share the space" and "This one girl taps my insecurities."

One video shared by @_alyssayung_ to TikTok of the moment at the Los Angeles concert was flooded with comments on the social media platform.

"a stolen win isn't a real win, charli xcx is the winner SAY WHAT YOU WANT IDC," replied @twinkarmy.

User @cjaysolis added: "Fun fact: brat is the highest rated album of the year on metacritic with a 95."

Newsweek contacted Swift and Charli XCX's representatives by email for comment.

It is not the first time Swift has been accused of allegedly preventing other artists from debuting at the top of the charts by releasing special versions of her albums, including Billie Eilish's new album, Hit Me Hard And Soft.

"It's likely that Swift has attracted ire for her TTPD reissue strategy simply because she's done it so many times, in so many different flavours, to the point that even the most apologetic fans have reached the end of their tether," wrote Shaad D'Souza for The Guardian on Friday. "That she seems to reissue TTPD specifically to best smaller artists —and, notably, smaller female artists—creates the image of Swift as Goliath attempting to crush Charli's hedonistic, gothy David."

D'Souza added in his article: "Even if she simply is releasing deluxe versions on a whim, the damage in the eyes of fans and onlookers is done; in the harshest light, you could say that her apparent constant drive for commercial dominance makes her Taylor's Version album re-recordings, framed as an attempt to once again own her music after the masters of her first six albums were sold against her will, look like a bad-faith justification for yet another series of album reissues."

Update 6/17/24, 10:02 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include information about Swift's Eras tour in the U.K.