Celebrity
Joshua Bassett Is Haunted By An Ex — Maybe Olivia Rodrigo — In His New Music Video
“A lookalike could never take your place,” he sings. “I guess I’m not as over you as I thought that I was.”
Joshua Bassett isn’t as over a certain ex as he thought he was — and the 21-year-old musician is not ashamed to admit it in the lyrics and music video for his new “Doppelgänger” song. The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series actor premiered the ballad and its video on Feb. 25, and fans quickly wondered whether the song is about Olivia Rodrigo, who Bassett was once allegedly romantically linked to and who supposedly wrote “drivers license” based on their breakup. Fans also thought the woman in the video looks suspiciously like Rodrigo.
The video begins with Bassett running into a doppelgänger (played by Chelsey Amaro) of his ex in their favorite coffee shop. As the rest of the three-and-a-half minute video goes on, Bassett reminisces about moments from his lost relationship: playing piano, swimming, dancing all over the house, and drinking wine with his ex (Ciara Riley Wilson). “I guess I’m not as over you as I thought that I was,” he sings. “I saw someone who looked like you at our favorite coffee shop, and part of me was hoping we would get the chance to talk.”
Bassett revealed that a real-life event inspired the lyrics. “The song poured out of me immediately after seeing someone who I thought was my ex at a coffee shop,” he said in a statement to Just Jared Jr. “Sucker punched in the heart, I realized I’m not quite as over them as I thought, and that no one, not even a lookalike, could ever take their place.”
Viewers are reasonable to conclude that Bassett is singing about his fellow HSMTMTS star. The two have had a long and complicated history. People still think “drivers license” and most of her Grammy-nominated album Sour were about Bassett, although neither actor has confirmed.
Following the release of “drivers license,” which Rodrigo first posted a snippet of on TikTok, Bassett was diagnosed with heart failure and septic shock. In an interview with GQ, he attributed his hospitalization partly to stress of the massive attention the song attracted.
When the turmoil of Rodrigo and Bassett’s relationship — and rumors of his romance with fellow Disney channel alum Sabrina Carpenter — seemed to settle down, Bassett released three songs and videos in December 2021 — “Crisis,” “Secret,” and “Set Me Free.” Fans were quick to assume Rodrigo was his muse for two of those songs.
Rodrigo, 19, and Bassett were on Billboard’s 21 Under 21 List in 2021, and while both singers are talented, it’s hard to deny that a portion of their fanfare comes from their sensational rumored romance. In December, Bassett said that the two have not spoken since “driver’s license” came out and his love life is “non-existent,” he told GQ. “Ultimately, being in a relationship is a responsibility. I don't know if I’m ready for that. I’m good on my own.”
