Is Olivia Rodrigo’s new tune “bad idea right?” about Joshua Bassett?

Singer and actress Olivia Rodrigo might be coming for Taylor Swift’s pop princess crown, because she is making a name for herself in the pop world for writing catchy tunes about heartbreak, and peppering her lyrics and videos with easter eggs.

Even though she’s only 20, Olivia is already on her second album, her first being the wildly successful “Sour” that spawned hits like “Drivers Licence” and “Good 4 U.” Now, she’s just dropped the single and music video for her new tune “bad idea right?” and fans are feeling like this is a followup to “Drivers Licence.” Why? The stans believe this is about Olivia’s famed ex Joshua Bassett.

In the music video, we see Olivia at a houseparty, contemplating just “reconnecting” with her ex boyfriend, but all of her friends tell her it’s a bad idea. Still, she leaves the party in the rain, hitching a ride in the back of a pickup truck, and then on the bus, until she finally gets to his hotel room, where she sings she just  “tripped and fell into his bed.” Fireworks go off, and she’s left with a spider on the pillow.

The lyrics go along with the theme of her trying to convince her friends and herself that seeing her ex is going to be totally fine (because what could go wrong?!). 

“And I'm right here with all my friends / But you're sendin' me your new address / And I know we're done, I know we're through / But, God, when I look at you / My brain goes, ‘Ah.’”

“'Oh, yes, I know that he's my ex / But can't two people reconnect?” she sings in the chorus, before getting really cheeky at the end, singing, “I only see him as a friend / (I just tripped and fell into his bed).”

“And I told my friends I was asleep / But I never said where, in his sheets.” Olivia!!

“Seein' you tonight / It's a bad idea, right? / Seein' you tonight / F*** it, it's fine.”

Is it though? TikTok stans have done some sleuthing and are convinced she’s doing “Driver’s Licence Part Two” here.

Liked more than 22,000 times, user YouBrokeMeFirst91 has proudly proclaimed “bad idea right?” to be “Jolivia Coded.” In their TikTok, they write in the text overlay that Olivia’s Instagram Story, which was a picture of a house party invite, used the same address as the one for her driver’s license in the “Driver's Licence” merch.

They also point out that she knocks on her ex’s hotel room door, and it’s number 22. Joshua Bassett was born on December 22 and is 22 years old.

Then when she gets inside her ex’s room, whom we never fully see because he’s bathed in light, we see a guitar case next to the bed, and the stans point out that Joshua Bassett is almost always seen with guitar in hand. 

If these are hints and easter eggs, they are rather subtle and do require a lot of broken telephone to make the links back to Joshua, but then again, her history with her former HSMTMTS co-star.

Fans of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series were beyond excited in January 2021 when Olivia, who starred in the show, dropped "Drivers License." Stans were convinced it was about her long-rumoured relationship with co-star Joshua Bassett, because their characters date in the series, but word on the street said that carried over to their private lives. 

However, things seemed to have gone south when, in August 2020, Oliva posted a TikTok about failed relationships. 

Not long after, Joshua began spending more time with Sabrina Carpenter, another HSMTMTS co-star.

In “Driver’s Licence,” she makes several references to an older blonde girl (Sabrina is 3 years older) and an ex-boyfriend, crooning, "I guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me... you're probably with that blonde girl... She's so much older than me." Because when you're a teenager, three years is a big difference.

In December 2021, Joshua told GQ that "[she] hasn't spoken to me since 'Drivers License' came out.”  In the interview, the HSMTMTS actor claimed he attempted to reconnect with Rodrigo to talk things over, but was unsuccessful.

But then, in 2022, the duo appeared together on the red carpet for the  HSMTMTS season 3 premiere, and seemed to be all smiles.

So when Olivia knocks on door number 22 in the music video, is she also referencing their 2022 reunion?

Stans are convinced, but Olivia, we are going to need these answers on our desk by 9am.