Is it considered “gay” to be fixated on your ex’s new partner? Sabrina Carpenter might be questioning this on her latest album, Short n’ Sweet, with a playful nod to her own queerness. Her new music video for “Taste” features a dramatic and campy showdown with Jenna Ortega, who’s both her rival and lover in a bloody, over-the-top scenario that has already captured online attention.
“Taste” serves as a vengeful message to the new girl in an ex’s life, suggesting that she will forever be overshadowed by Carpenter. While the specific inspiration behind the song remains unconfirmed, fans have linked it to Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, given Mendes’s recent public outings with Carpenter after his brief reunion with Cabello.
Fans speculate about the inspiration behind Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste,” with many linking the song to her rumored past with Shawn Mendes
Carpenter’s lyrics—“Now I’m gone, but you’re still laying / Next to me, one degree of separation”—hint at her lingering presence in Mendes’s life, taunting the new girl with, “You’ll just have to taste me when he’s kissin’ you.”
The music video’s narrative is equally spicy, drawing on themes from cult classics like Death Becomes Her, Kill Bill, and Ginger Snaps. It depicts Carpenter and Ortega in a series of dramatic, humorous deaths, only to end up as close friends at a faux funeral. This twist playfully echoes the homoerotic themes present in Olivia Rodrigo’s songs like “Obsessed” and “Deja Vu,” where she explores similar tensions.
One can’t help but wonder how much more dynamic it could have been if Rodrigo herself had joined the video, adding another layer of intrigue to Carpenter’s already provocative concept.
