Sabrina Carpenter Addresses Olivia Rodrigo-Joshua Bassett 'Drivers License' Backlash on New Song

“That song came from a really real place in my life, so it didn’t feel right to not kind of write that song, but at the same time, I’ve had so many people that have heard it tell me how much they relate to it in their own way. Like, ‘I went through years where people were believing all these things that people were saying about me that weren’t true,’” she explained to Rolling Stone of “because i liked a boy.”

“People have experienced that similar situation in a completely different way than I’ve experienced it. It was very therapeutic to write that song from hindsight and being like, ‘Wow, one thing leads to another and things can really get out of hand.’ Just being able to own it at the end of the day, and not let it determine who you are. My favorite lyric in the song is ‘Tell me who I am, because I don’t have a choice.’ It’s obviously sarcastic, but in the way that people can’t tell you who you are. Only if you allow them to, like really get under your skin, but truthfully, you know who you are.”

She continued, saying: “So many people probably have dealt with the situation of being labeled something that they’re not. 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. One of my favorite movies is Easy A, and I was sort of picturing Emma Stone’s character because she was labeled to be something. It’s a weirdly empowering film in a sense. She uses humor to deflect her pain and what she’s going through and I do that too. I think this song has elements of that too. It’s also about the Black Eyed Peas!”

Find out more about the whole saga of the “drivers license” speculation.

Check out the lyrics…