Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Bassett, And Sabrina Carpenter's Love Triangle, Explained
Is Rodrigo's new single "Good 4 U" about Joshua Bassett?
Tinseltown, Kathy Hutchins, & Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock Disney Channel fans all clearly ship Ricky and Nini together from "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series."
However, in real life things haven't gone as well as we all might have hoped for the pair.
The stars of the show, Joshua Bassett (Ricky) and Olivia Rodrigo (Nini), dated on and off for a year — before a theory began circulating on TikTok that Bassett was cheating on Rodrigo with actress Sabrina Carpenter.
The whole HSMTMTS cast seemed to take Rodrigo’s side — and some great music has been produced as fans speculate about the drama.
Is Olivia Rodrigo's new song "Good 4 U" about her ex-boyfriend Joshua Bassett?
While only Rodrigo can say for sure, the lyrics of "Good 4 U," the third song off Rodrigo's soon to be released debut album, following "Drivers License" and "Deja Vu," seem to again reference Joshua Bassett and his alleged romantic involvement with Sabrina Carptenter.
“Well, good for you, I guess you moved on really easily / You found a new girl and it only took a couple weeks,” she sings.
The Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Bassett, and Sabrina Carpenter Love Triangle, Explained
Rodrigo and Bassett dated on and off for about a year.
Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett are believed to have dated on and off from July 2019 to May 2020.
During that time, they were constantly with one another and often commented on each other’s instagram pictures. They promoted each other’s music careers on their Instagram Stories and even revealed that they have nicknames for one another. Bassett's is “Joshy” and Rodrigo's is “Liv.”
Rodrigo even released a song called “Gross” on her Instagram page, which seemed to clearly be about her relationship with Bassett. Bassett himself commented on the video, saying, “u kill me.”
But then in April, Rodrigo posted a different kind of tune, in which she sang, "Boy, I'm too young to be your mother. I'm not smart enough to be your therapist either."
The two reportedly broke up sometime in May 2020, at which point they stopped spending time with one another and liking each other's social media posts.
Joshua Bassett was soon seen with Sabrina Carpenter.
Sabrina Carpenter is an actress and singer who is best known for playing Maya Hart in "Girl Meets World."
Carpenter has also been in "The Goodwin Games," "Adventures in Babysitting," "The Hate U Give," "Tall Girl," "Work It," "Clouds" and more. She is slated to soon play Alice in Netflix’s upcoming live-action version of "Alice in Wonderland."
Carpenter is 22 years old. She was born on May 11, 1999, making her a Taurus.
She also has a singing career and has released four albums with hit songs like “Sue Me,” “Why” and “Almost Love.”
Rumors that Carpenter and Bassett were dating started to circulate in June 2020 when they were reportedly seen kissing at a Black Lives Matter protest.
Then, on August 15, they were seen out and about together having a lunch date (a;long with her sister) in Los Angeles, California.
The day after Bassett and Carpenter were seen getting lunch, Olivia Rodrigo and her friend Iris Apatow posted a photo on Instagram, showing them wearing shirts that say “Dump Him.”
Just a few months later, Carpenter and Bassett even decided to go with a couple's halloween costume!
The pair dressed up as Sharkboy and Lavagirl, then posted a TikTok together showing off their outfits.
The TikTok theory points out that Bassett moved on so quickly from Rodrigo that it's possible he cheated on her with Carpenter.
The HSMTMTS cast took Olivia Rodrigo’s side.
The cast of HSMTMTS seemed to take Rodrigo’s side, as they stopped interacting with Bassett on social media after the pair broke up.
Larry Saperstein, who plays Big Red, stopped commenting and interacting with Bassett’s instagram posts in May 2020, and as of August, many cast members stopped interacting with Bassett altogether.
And when Bassett turned 20 on December 22, 2000 (making him a Capricorn) no one from the cast commented on the post he shared announcing a live version of his new song, "Heaven Is You," on Instagram.
The lyrics — like "And I’m not one to fall in love too fast / But something tells me this one’s gonna last" — are suspected to be about Sabrina Carpenter.
On the other hand, when Olivia Rodrigo posted an announcement that she would soon be releasing her debut single, "Drivers License," cast members Sofia Wylie and Julia Lester commented on the post expressing their support.
And within three hours of the post being uploaded, Kate Reinders, Matt Cornett, Sofia Wylie, Julia Lester, and Joe Serafini all liked it.
The smash hit is believed to be a direct response to Bassett and Carpenter, with telling lyics like "And you're probably with that blonde girl / Who always made me doubt / She's so much older than me / She's everything I'm insecure about."
Rodrigo, who's birthday is February 20, 2003 — making her a Pisces — is 18, four years younger than the very blonde Carpenter.
In a new interview with W Magazine, she "described Sour as a kind of sonic autopsy of a shattered heart, with most of her new recordings mining the emotional vortex of soured love."
“I tried to write all these songs about other things," Rodrigo said, "and it just didn’t feel like it resonated with me; it didn’t feel authentic. I want my songs to feel like something I need to say. I’d rather have songs that feel personal to me than songs that people could dance to.”
Jaycee Levin is a writer, influencer and blogger living in New York who covers news and entertainment for YourTango. Follow her on Instagram.