Olivia Rodrigo’s “copycat” reputation continues to follow her.
The singer was recently called out for similarities between her Christmas single and another song by Robbie Williams, who addressed them in a shocking response.
The controversy made netizens revisit Rodrigo’s speculated beef with Taylor Swift, with one declaring he “ended” the Love Story singer.
Robbie Williams spoke about whether he will be taking legal action against Olivia Rodrigo
Robbie Williams initially raised eyebrows when he tagged Olivia Rodrigo in a cheeky post on X.
His dig at the 23-year-old singer came after fans pointed out similarities between her new song Take Me Home (4 Christmas) and his 2012 hit Candy.
“Happy Christmas @oliviarodrigo x,” he simply wrote on X.
But rather than turn the situation into another songwriting dispute, the 52-year-old English singer took to Instagram to show that he had no hard feelings toward Rodrigo.
“I love Olivia Rodrigo. I’ve loved her since Brutal. What a f***ing record. I wish I’d made it,” he wrote.
Williams also joked about how much Rodrigo swears on stage, saying, “I’m a Sweary Mary, but she’s making me look like a Victorian schoolmistress.”
“I’m not going after her,” the 52-year-old English singer said, addressing the similarities between their songs
As for the similarities between their songs, the singer wasn’t particularly bothered.
“There are only so many notes. Only so many chores. Only so many ways of putting them together before you inevitably find yourself somewhere somebody else has been,” he said.
The former Take That member acknowledged that Rodrigo may have “accidentally stumbled across a musical echo” of his work but said he had no plans to take action against her.
“I don’t know whether there’s technically a publishing issue, a copyright issue, or no issue whatsoever. And I don’t want to know,” he explained.
“I’m not going after her. Because I think at some point, some f***ing sanity has to prevail,” he added.
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images
Williams used the opportunity to speak about what he sees as a growing problem in the music industry.
He said artists should be able to protect their work but shouldn’t treat every similarity between two songs as a “winning lottery ticket.”
“I think it’s disgusting. We all stand on the shoulders of people who came before us. Sometimes consciously. Sometimes without even knowing it. That’s how music works,” he added.
“If we keep punishing people for accidentally arriving somewhere somebody else has already been, eventually we’re going to frighten the creativity out of everyone,” he added.
Fans brought up the Good 4 U singer’s past songwriting controversy with Taylor Swift
Williams’ response reminded fans of Rodrigo’s previous songwriting controversies, particularly the one involving Taylor Swift.
“He ended Taylor, I fear,” one commented after Williams’ statement.
“He said, ‘I’m not like that greedy woman Taylor Swift!’” one said, while another claimed, “Swifties will be miserable to him in the coming days.”
“Swifties will never make talented musicians hate Olivia,” one commented.
“Robbie handling this with that much class is honestly refreshing,” one said, while another wrote, “He can defend her all he wants but her legacy will always be ‘copycat.’”
“It’s no surprise that Olívia loves to copy this, but she had to go and copy Robbie Williams, of all people—that’s a whole other level, especially to make such a dud,” said another.
Fans believed Swift and Rodrigo had a fallout over the songwriting credits for the latter’s hit Deja Vu
Rodrigo had openly credited Swift’s Cruel Summer for influencing her hit song Deja Vu.
She later made the connection official in 2021 by adding Swift and her collaborators Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent as co-writers on the track.
Rodrigo also gave Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Josh Farro songwriting credits on Good 4 U after listeners noticed similarities to their song Misery Business.
Neither situation resulted in a lawsuit, but the credits sparked plenty of speculation about whether Rodrigo and Swift had a fallout.
“I don’t have beef with anyone,” Rodrigo told Rolling Stone in 2023.
“I’m very chill. I keep to myself,” she said.
The singer claimed she doesn’t talk to anyone beyond her mom and her four friends.
Rodrigo insisted she had no “beef” with anyone when asked about Swift
“There’s nothing to say,” she added. “There’s so many Twitter conspiracy theories. I only look at alien-conspiracy theories.”
When asked whether she was forced to give Swift and the others songwriting credits, Rodrigo said, “It’s not something that I was super involved in. It was more team-on-team. So, I wouldn’t be the best person to ask.”
She was also asked whether she would make another artist give her credit if their song sounded similar to hers.
“I don’t think I would ever personally do that,” she replied. “But who’s to say where I’ll be in 20, 30 years. All that I can do is write my songs and focus on what I can control.”
“Bro handled a potential music lawsuit with more grace than the entire music industry combined,” one commented on Williams’ statement
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