All the People Taylor Swift Alludes to on Her Album 'The Life of a Showgirl': From Charli XCX to Kayla Nicole and More

Taylor Swift's new album, The Life of a Showgirl, seemingly references famous stars — including Blake Lively.

Released on October 3, Swift's 12th studio album treated Swifties with attention-grabbing tracks, including the song "Cancelled!" which fans believe is about the Another Simple Favor actress and their rumored fallout.

In the dark pop, Swift sings about how she likes her friends "cancelled," prompting Swifties to believe it might be about Lively and her messy legal showdown with her It Ends With Us costar Justin Baldoni.

She adds in the chorus, "I like 'em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal / Like my whiskey sour, and poison thorny flowers / Welcome to my underworld where it gets quite dark / At least you know exactly who your friends are / They're the ones with matching scars."

In the latter part of the song, she thanks her "cancelled" friends as she delivers the lines, "They stood by me before my exoneration / They believed I was innocent / So I'm not here for judgment, no."

Fans initially thought Swift's song "Ruin the Friendship" might also be about Lively, but the lyrics suggest otherwise.

Brittany Mahomes is also linked to "Cancelled!" due to the controversies she has faced in recent years, including her public support of Donald Trump.

In September 2024, the POTUS namedropped Mahomes after Swift formally endorsed Kamala Harris before the election.

"Well I actually like Mrs. Mahomes much better. If you want to know the truth," said Trump. "It was only a matter of time. You couldn't possibly endorse [Joe] Biden. But [Taylor's] a very liberal person. She seems to always endorse a Democrat and she'll probably pay a price for it in the marketplace."

He continued, "But I like Brittany. Brittany is great. She's the one I like much better than Taylor Swift. Wife of the great quarterback. I think she's terrific."

The Life of a Showgirl also fuels a "Bad Blood" buzz between Swift and Charli XCX through the track "Actually Romantic."

"I heard you call me 'Boring Barbie' when the coke's got you brave / High-fived my ex and then said you're glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face/ Some people might be offended / But it's actually sweet / All the time you've spent on me," Swift cryptically sings.

Swifties suggest the title is also a play on the 33-year-old British singer-songwriter's 2018 song "Everything is Romantic."

The second track from The Life of a Showgirl, "Elizabeth Taylor," references the late film actress Elizabeth Taylor.

In addition to the title serving as a nod to Taylor, Swift mentions her name multiple times throughout the track, including "Elizabeth Taylor / Do you think it's forever? /That view of Portofino was on my mind when you called me at the Plaza Athénée" and "I'd cry my eyes violet, Elizabeth Taylor."

Swift also sings the lines "The best booth at Musso & Frank's," "My white diamonds" and "In the papers, on the screen, and in their minds," which pay homage to Taylor.

The lyrics of Swift's "Ruin the Friendship" are about a high school girl experiencing unrequited love, although the emotional track also suggests it might be about her childhood friend, Jeffrey Lang, who died in November 2010.

"When I left school I lost track of you / Abigail called me with the bad news / Goodbye / And we'll never know why," she sings. "It was not an invitation / But I flew home anyway / With so much left to say / It was not convenient, no / But I whispered at the grave / 'Should've kissed you anyway'… My advice is always ruin the friendship / Better that than regret it / For all time."

Fans speculate that Swift's song "Opalite" throws shade at Travis Kelce's ex Kayla Nicole as she appears to detail her now-fiancé's relationships before they began dating.

"You couldn't understand it, why you felt alone / You were in it for real, she was in her phone and you were just a pose," she sang in the apparent dig. "And don't we try to love love? We give it all we got / You finally left the table, and what a simple thought / You're starving 'til you're not."

In a since-deleted video on X, Kelce asked his then-girlfriend to "Just drink the wine so we can go."

After declaring she "loved it here," Nicole told Kelce she would not "seek validation from a bunch of strangers on the internet" if "someone sometimes would pay [her] attention."

"Oh, my God. Get off your phone. Get off your phone. … You're not even drinking your wine anymore, can we go?" Kelce replied.

Swift appears to take a swipe at Matty Healy in her song "Actually Romantic," which is allegedly a pointed jab at Charli.

In May 2023, Swift and Healy were romantically linked following her breakup with Joe Alwyn. The buzz died down a month later.

Swift changes the point-of-view and sings she "will be your father figure" in the song "Father Figure," which seemingly critiques Big Machine Records founder Scott Borchetta.

She croons, "I'll be your father figure, I drink that brown liquor / I can make deals with the devil because my d---'s bigger / This love is pure profit, just step into my office / I dry your tears with my sleeve."

"Said, 'They want to see you rise, they don't want you to reign' / I showed you all the tricks of the trade / All I ask is for your loyalty / My dear protégé," Swift channels her emotions in the second verse.

In the final chorus, Swift drops the mysterious line, "You want a fight, you found it / I got the place surrounded."

The Life of a Showgirl is extra special as it alludes to Kelce on several tracks.

In the chorus of the opening track, "The Fate of Ophelia," Swift sings, "You dug me out of my grave and saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia / Keep it one hundred."

"Pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes," Swift also shares.

Another potential Kelce-related song, "Opalite" serves as a clear nod to the NFL star's October birthstone. After revealing her "sleepless in the onyx night," Swift croons, "But now the sky is opalite / Oh my lord, never met no one like you before."

Swifties also believe she has lyrical references to Kelce in "Eldest Daughter" and "Wi$h Li$t."

But among the tracks, "Wood" has made jaw-dropping headlines due to the raunchy lyrics, "It's you and me forever, dancing in the dark / But for me it’s understood, I ain't got to knock on wood," Swift sings. "Redwood tree, it ain't hard to see / His love was the key to open my thighs."