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Charli XCX wore a Max Kansas City top on Saturday Night Live, drawing attention amid rumors that she and Taylor Swift are feuding. Max’s Kansas City refers not to the Kansas City Chiefs, the team that Swift’s fiance Travis Kelce plays for, but to a legendary nightclub in New York City. Swift released a diss track called “Actually Romantic” earlier this month, which fans believe was directed at Charli.
Charli XCX made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend, and her shirt drew attention amid rumors of a feud with Taylor Swift. Charlie appeared during Role Models’ performance of “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out.” She wore a Max’s Kansas City T-shirt that Role Model wore in an SNL promotional shoot.
The role model posted on her Instagram story:
Max’s Kansas City is not a hidden reference to the Kansas City Chiefs, the NFL team that Swift’s fiance Travis Kelce plays for. This is actually the name of a famous nightclub in New York City that closed in the 1960s. The role model tagged Instagram in her post.
Still, Swift’s Kansas City-evoking remarks during an SNL appearance just a week after she released her song “Actually Romantic,” which allegedly dissed Charlie, didn’t get fans’ attention.
Although Charli hasn’t directly commented on the song, she posted a video of herself in the studio on her Instagram Story, hinting that some kind of musical response may be coming.
Swift and Charlie have been together for over 10 years. The Life of a Showgirls star brought Charlie on as a guest on her 1989 World Tour in 2015. Three years later, Charlie was the opening act for Swift on her Reputation Stadium Tour.
Taylor Swift and Charli XCX perform during the 1989 World Tour in 2015.
Charli XCX, Camila Cabello and Taylor Swift perform on stage during the Reputation Stadium Tour.
Singer Brat made headlines for how he reflected on the experience in a 2019 Pitchfork interview. “I’m so grateful that[Taylor]invited me to go on that tour,” Charlie said. “But as an artist, I felt like I was standing on stage and waving to a 5-year-old.” She also admitted that at that point in her career, she didn’t want to be an opener anymore: “I’ve done a lot of things and established myself as this underdog character, and I like it now, but ultimately you have to own your own shit.”
As her comments went viral, Charlie dismissed rumors of a feud regarding X, saying her words were taken out of context. She proceeded to tell Swift that she meant “absolutely no shade.” “As I wrote in the article and have said many times before, I am so grateful to Taylor for inviting me to open for her. She is one of the greatest artists of my generation, and the Reputation Tour was one of the biggest tours of all time.”
Fast forward to 2024, and Charli released her song “Sympathy is a Knife” with Brat, in which she detailed her insecurities about women dating people from her now-husband George Daniel’s band, The 1975. Swift briefly dated the band’s lead singer Matti Healy in the summer of 2023. A few weeks after their breakup, Swift met her current fiancé, Kelce, who is based in Kansas. City, Missouri.
In the lyrics, Charlie sings: “I don’t want to share space / I don’t want to force a smile / This girl taps into my insecurities / I don’t know if it’s real or I’m spiraling,” and “I don’t want to see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back, hoping they break up soon.”
Charli again tried to dispel Swift rumors when asked about the song in her August 2024 New York Magazine cover story. “People will think what they want to think,” she said. “That song is about me and my emotions and my insecurities and how my brain creates stories and narratives in my head when I feel insecure and how I don’t want to be physically in that situation when I’m not confident in myself.”
Meanwhile, Swift praised Charli in the same profile. “Ever since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011, I’ve been amazed by Charlie’s melodic sensibilities,” she began. “Her writing is always surreal and original.”
She added that the Brat singer “just takes songs to unexpected places, and she’s been doing that consistently for over a decade. I love seeing that kind of effort pay off.”
Earlier this month, Swift released “Actually Romantic,” which many fans interpreted as a response to “Sympathy is a Knife.”
At the beginning of this song, she calls out to someone who supports her in breaking up. “I heard you call me ‘boring Barbie’ when I got up the courage to drink coke/I high-fived my ex and said I was glad he ghosted me/You wrote a song about how the look in my face made me feel sick.”
Swift further fueled speculation that Charli inspired the song by posing as an apple in its visualizer art, which could also be an Easter egg from Charli’s Brat hit “Apple.”
Neither artist has directly addressed the feud rumors. Swift spoke about the meaning of “Actually Romantic” at the official release party for the Showgirls movie, saying the song is “like a love letter to the people who hate you.”
“I don’t hate you. And I don’t think about this. But I appreciate all the effort, and honestly, it’s great. Even if it’s negative, it’s very, very kind of you to think of me this much. In my industry, when you’re getting a lot of attention, attention is love…”
Learn more about Charli XCX and Taylor Swift
