Sabrina Carpenter is wearing her heart on her sleeve.
The singer released her new album Emails I Can't Send on July 15, and one song in particular has fans talking. On the track "Because I Liked a Boy," Carpenter sings about the judgement she faced over a relationship.
The Girl Meets World actress reflects on bonding with a guy "over Black Eyed Peas and complicated exes." And while Carpenter says "it was all so innocent," she suggests not everyone viewed it that way and passed judgment.
"Now I'm a homewrecker I'm a s--t," Carpenter sings. "I got death threats filling up semi-trucks."
Throughout the song, Carpenter reflects on people making their own assumptions about the situation.
"I'm the hot topic on your tongue," she continues. "I'm a rebound gettin' 'round/Stealin' from the young/Tell me who I am/Guess I don't have a choice/All I because I liked a boy."
And Carpenter suggests it hasn't been an easy time. "I'm not catastrophizing/Everything's derailing," she sings. "Was only tryna hold you close/While your heart was failing/It's not internet illusion/Just two kids going through it/You said I'm too late to be your first love/But I'll always be your favorite."
"Fell so deeply into it/It was all so innocent," she later adds. "Dating boys with exes/No, I wouldn't recommend it."
Plus, Carpenter implies people may not know the whole story. "And all of this for what/When everything went down/We'd already broken up," she sings. "Please tell me who I am/Guess I don't have a choice/All because I liked a boy."
While Carpenter never drops any names in the song, many social media users assumed it referenced her rumored former relationship with Joshua Bassett, who allegedly also dated Olivia Rodrigo at one point (Olivia and Joshua have each released music that seemingly tell their sides of the story—though they have never confirmed this speculation).
"I simply never want Olivia, Joshua and Sabrina to stop releasing songs about their love triangle," one Twitter user wrote. Added another, "If olivia can sing about her experience, sabrina can too."
Still, others urged listeners not to jump to conclusions. As one commenter put it, "You also have to remember that sabrina, joshua, and olivia are artists with an amazing ability to get their audience to connect to the music. Don't take everything so damn seriously."
Carpenter opened up about the inspiration behind the song during a recent interview with Rolling Stone. "So many people probably have dealt with the situation of being labeled something that they're not," she told the magazine. "And it's frustrating because you want to do something about it. But then if you do something, people are mad; if you don't do something, people are mad; and you're like, ‘What's the way I'm going to feel happy and at peace with myself?' For me, it was just important to tell the story from my perception."
She also said she was "sort of picturing Emma Stone's character" in Easy A when writing the song.
"She uses humor to deflect her pain and what she's going through and I do that too," the 23-year-old continued. "I think this song has elements of that too."