Following the release of Sabrina Carpenter’s hit album, Short n’ Sweet, fans have connected the meaning behind track “Taste” to a previous fling between the popstar and artist Shawn Mendes, hinting at potential bad blood between her and Mendes’s current partner, Camila Cabello.  

Many fans have been losing their minds all over the internet over the potential of animosity between two prominent artists on the pop scene; one, a previous hit-maker of beloved classics like “Havannah” and “My Oh My”, the other, a newly-rising sensation on the music scene. 

Popular magazine column Teen Vogue has recently published an article featuring the full timeline of the love triangle, showing how it has taken the world by storm with people dying to know the origins of the juicy drama and just how far back it stretches. The article is composed of moments linking the three from the dating rumors between Carpenter and Mendes to the three meeting at the VMAs. 

The article’s compiled timeline suggests that the hostility between Carpenter and Cabello dates way back, considering Mendes and Cabello’s on-and-off relationship. Song lyrics from Carpenter’s Christmas EP in November of last year are speculated to be about the two, considering when the events had happened; it seemed logical for fans to jump to the conclusion that the jealous feelings expressed in the song could only link back to, Carpenter’s recent and alleged fling, Mendes, and his partner, Cabello 

Since then, fans have been taking the lyrics of the artists’ recent releases and connecting them to the drama with consideration to the live timeline of events between the three. 

With no clear statements about the allegations made, the artists certainly haven’t been helping fan the flames; Cabello even going as far as to say “[Fans] can listen to my album and decide for themselves what the songs are about.” People have certainly taken that and ran with it, dissecting both the women’s newer songs that could be alluding to any hints of partner-stealing or jealousy about a “blonde girl” (much like Olivia Rodrigo had sung about in her widely successful song Driver’s License).

This is far from Carpenter’s first rodeo with being caught in a love triangle—she has quite the history of this behind her with a beloved singer, Olivia Rodrigo, as well as singer and actor Joshua Bassett. How frequently Carpenter is involved in messy romantic affairs may suggest something about her character; once is a coincidence, twice is a pattern—or however the saying goes.

But rather than saying something about the celebrities, it should be questioned as to why outsiders are so invested in the drama of what are ultimately adults’ experiences in the dating pool. 

The claim can be made that humans are inherently interested in negative things: Consider the car crash theory, where all eyes are drawn to an accident on the road with keen interest because negative events  just seem to be more “interesting.” Many people looking for entertainment partake in gossiping about someone’s embarrassment, rather than their achievements. 

Others say it may just be a matter of relatability. Celebrities are advertised as attractive, flawless people who have no shortage of people fawning over them. To hear about perfect people going through the highs and lows of dating may be comforting and appeal to spectators as “more human.”  

Regardless of why people are so invested, Carpenter’s marketing team should be seeing an opportunity: one to further propel the rising pop star’s popularity with the buzz around her latest scandal. With everyone talking about the Carpenter-Mendes-Cabello love triangle, gossipers may just be giving Carpenter the extra attention she needs to become a permanent fixture in the music industry. 

Despite making music for almost a decade now, she has only ever received brief bursts of time beneath the spotlight in the past before dying back down. More than anything, what a marketing team should be trying to obtain for their artist is a permanent place in people’s memories—this whole ordeal could very well be that big break that allows Carpenter to get her name out there enough and earn herself a spot  in the Pop Hall of Fame.

Soon, this scandal will be behind the rising star and all people will remember Carpenter for will be the version of herself that she shows in the present. Any drama rising to surface now may be rapidly gaining buzz, however, its relevance will be much like the artist’s album title: short and sweet.

With how quickly celebrity drama tends to die down, outsiders are left in anticipation of which stars will be next to be pushed into the spotlight for all to make speculations about. Said speculations often pertain to their personal lives and breach their privacy, however many remain ignorant to how said stars are impacted by the attention.