Charli XCX was the surprise “Sally” during Role Model’s Saturday Night Live debut, but did she subtly react to Taylor Swift’s lyrical allusion in the process?
Role Model, 28, performed his hit “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” during the Saturday, October 11, episode of SNL, enlisting Charli, 33, for a cameo. After Role Model introduced his “Sally,” Charli strutted on stage in a leather miniskirt, sunglasses and a T-shirt that read “Max’s Kansas City.”
A handful of fans quickly speculated whether the Brat musician’s top was a subtle response to Swift, 35, who presumably name-checked their alleged beef on her Life of a Showgirl song, “Actually Romantic.”
“The KC T-shirt … oh tiny chihuahua, you will be dealt with,” one fan wrote via X, quoting a lyric from “Actually Romantic.”
Taylor Swift and Charli XCX have long denied there’s any tension between them, but their rumored beef made headlines again with the release of Swift’s 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl. After the album dropped in October 2025, fans immediately began speculating that track 7, “Actually Romantic,” is about Charli. “What do i […]
Another added, “OK and how [long] has Charli been going around and talking s*** about Taylor? SHE’S too old to be doing this.”
Swift, of course, has been spending more time in Kansas City ever since she started dating her now-fiancé, Travis Kelce, in 2023. (Kelce, 36, is the starting tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs.)
Taylor Swift. XNY/Star Max/GC Images
Other fans, however, didn’t think Charli’s shirt was a dig at Swift at all, noting that Role Model (born Tucker Harrington Pillsbury) wore a similar piece for his SNL promos earlier this week.
“Charli XCX wearing Tucker’s shirt as his Sally,” a third social media user wrote, with a fourth chiming in, “As both a Taylor and [Role Model] stan this has nothing to do with Taylor and everything to do with a bit [Role Model] has about having beef with Charli a week ago none of you cared so move on.”
The supposed drama between Swift and Charli, who previously opened for the 14-time Grammy winner on her Reputation tour, reached a fever pitch when Swift’s Showgirl dropped on October 3.
Some Charli XCX fans are convinced that the Brat track “Sympathy Is a Knife” is about Taylor Swift, but Charli says that’s not exactly the case. “People are gonna think what they want to think,” Charli, 32, told New York magazine in a cover story interview published Monday, August 25. “That song is about me […]
“I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave / High-fived my ex and then you said you’re glad he ghosted me,” Swift sings on “Actually Romantic,” seemingly referring to ex Matty Healy, who is in the band The 1975 with Charli’s husband, George Daniel. “Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face / Some people might be offended.”
Swift continues, “But it’s actually sweet / All the time you’ve spent on me / It’s honestly wild / All the effort you’ve put in.”
Charli fans had previously theorized that her hit 2024 song “Sympathy Is a Knife” was an ode to her feud with Swift, though the British singer publicly denied the claims at the time. Swift, meanwhile, has yet to confirm whether “Actually Romantic” was inspired by Charli.
Amy Poehler, Role Model and Bowen Yang. Rosalind O’ Connor / NBC
“The song ‘Actually Romantic’ is sort of a love letter to someone who hates you,” Swift said during her “Release Party of a Showgirl” event held earlier this month. “It’s, like, sometimes you don’t know that you’re a part of someone else’s stories, but you are. There can be this moment, where [it’s revealed] to you through things that they do that are very overt.”
She concluded, As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started being, like, ‘Oh my God, you did so much with this. It’s flattering. I don’t hate you, and I don’t think about all this.’”
Saturday Night Live airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET.
