The Life of a Showgirl, the 12th studio album by Taylor Swift is now available to stream. Even though the album has gotten mixed reviews amidst critical public opinions, it sold 2.7 million copies in the US on its first day, even breaking Adele’s record of selling 3.48 million equivalent album units in the United States in its first week. As ever, Swifties are busy dissecting the songs and speculating whom she wrote which song about. Notably, the song “CANCELLED!” was initially thought to be about her friend Blake Lively, but now we have more muses who have emerged as potential inspirations for the track. So, who did Taylor Swift write “CANCELLED” about? Let’s take a closer look.
The song “CANCELLED” is the most Reputation-coded song on the album, and it is pretty groovy with the Booktok community especially relating to it. In the song, Swift goes up against Cancel Culture and sings, “Good thing I like my friends cancelled / I like ’em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal”.
We all go the extra mile for our friends, and Swift addresses this in the song. Here, she alludes to prioritising her friends when they are in tough times or hot waters. This hits home, as the singer was a victim of cancel culture in 2015, when she spoke against Kanye West’s song “Famous”, which featured some explicit lines about her. Back then, many of her friends from the industry stood by her. While many of Swift’s A-lister friends have been cancelled in recent times, here are a few she might have written this song about.
All the people who could have inspired “CANCELLED” from The Life of a Showgirl by Taylor Swift
Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter’s dating life has been a sizzling topic of conversation since the whole love triangle between Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Basset, and herself first came to limelight in 2021 with the release of Rodrigo’s song “Driver’s License”. During this time, both Basset and Carpenter received a lot of hate. Many accused her of ‘stealing from the young’. But soon after, history repeated itself and she found herself in another love triangle alongside Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello. Both situations were met with messy, dramatic ends, but gave us great music.
In late 2023, news outlets began reporting on Sabrina hanging out with Barry Keoghan. At the time, Barry had just welcomed a child with his ex, Alyson Sandro, who gave birth to their son in 2022. Due to these incidents, a lot of people started questioning her choice in men, leading to a spike in online hate sent her way.
In the song, Swift sings, “Everyone’s got bodies in the attic / Or took somebody’s man / We’ll take you by the hand / And soon you’ll learn the art of never getting caught”. Fans are speculating that these lyrics might be about the Gen-Z popstar, as the two are close. Famously, Sabrina accompanied Taylor during her Eras Tour as one of her star openers. The two of them quickly became friends, and Carpenter soon became a profound member of Swift’s girl squad, accompanying her during Chief’s football games. She has also been a lifelong fan of the songwriter and is the only featured artist in Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl.
Sophie Turner
Sophie Turner’s split from Joe Jonas in 2023 unfolded with a lot of drama. Jonas alleged that Turner was a “party girl”, a claim that led to media scrutiny for the Game of Thrones actress. During this time, Swift, whom Jonas briefly dated while they were teenagers, provided sanctuary and friendship to Turner. Later, Turner said in an interview that Swift ‘was an absolute hero’ to her during the time. Turner further shared that the singer had opened her NYC home to her and her kids while the legal drama unfolded. She also supported her publicly, and the two were photographed enjoying several New York City dinners together.
In “CANCELLED”, Swift sings, “At least you know exactly who your friends are / They’re the ones with matching scars”. These lyrics have led many fans to believe that the songwriter is referring to the scars left by Joe Jonas. Moreover, the songwriter spent “Cancelled” in British English, further fanning fans’ belief that the song is about Turner.
Blake Lively
The most probable answer for who Taylor Swift wrote “CANCELLED!” about is Blake Lively. The Gossip Girl alum was the female lead and executive producer of Justin Baldoni It Ends with Us, a film adaptation of the 2016 Colleen Hoover novel of the same name that he both directed and starred in. The movie dabbled in sensitive topics like domestic violence. However, during the press tour, fans were not impressed by Lively’s lighthearted take on the issue, as she had promoted it as a fun rom com to watch with friends while subsequently promoting her haircare brand and her husband’s movie Deadpool & Wolverine.
But, the plot thickened. Lively later filed a complaint alleging that Baldoni created a hostile workplace by making inappropriate comments. This was then followed by an article in The New York Times that accused Baldoni of running a smear campaign against Lively. The actress went on to file a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department, alleging that he had created a hostile work environment through sexual harassment.
Baldoni refuted these accusations. He sued The New York Times for their article. Additionally, he, along with his Wayfarer associates and PR executives countersued Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist, alleging extortion, defamation, and invasion of privacy. The public feud gained a lot of attention with celebrities choosing sides.
Amid this heated situation, Baldoni petitioned to subpoena Taylor Swift, claiming that Lively used her and Reynolds to coerce him into accepting Lively’s rewrite of the film. In June 2025, the court dismissed Baldoni’s suits against Lively, Reynolds, and The New York Times, but granted him access to Lively’s text conversations with Swift. But none of Lively’s accusations against him were proven, and many fans speculated it was power play from the Hollywood power couple who set their sights against Baldoni. The legal battle will continue in March 2026.
The singer has denied any involvement in the battle. However, she was notably absent from Lively’s circle during the drama, and the two have not been seen together since it all erupted. So, many assumed that the two had fallen out in their friendship. But after the release of TLOAS, Lively subtly showed her support liking Swift’s post, which led to many people believing they are still friends behind the scenes.
It would make sense, as Lively did support Swift during her tough times, which could have inspired the lyrics, “They stood by me / Before my exoneration / They believed I was innocent / So I’m not here for judgment, no, ooh”. Also, in a recently reshared post on the New Heights podcast’s YouTube page, the Kelce brothers called Miss Lively their ‘friend’, further solidifying the idea their friendship is well and alive.
Britney Mahomes
Fellow NFL WAG and wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Britney Mahomes is one of the newest additions to Swift’s girl squad. Swift became friends with Mahomes after she began dating Travis Kelce, a fact that has led to much controversy with critics questioning the company she’s currently keeping after stepping into Kelce’s world. Many seem to think that the Mahomes are MAGA supporters, and so are some of the new people Taylor and Travis are hanging out with.
Swift has been vocal about being against Trump’s policies in her 2020 documentary Miss Americana. She also publicly endorsed Kamala Harris during the 2024 elections. However, this has been overshadowed by the Mahomes’ ties to MAGA and Travis’s appearance in the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast, which also has strong ties to the MAGA movement.
(Main and featured image: taylorswift/Instagram)
This story first appeared here.
Note : The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
