Inside the Taylor Swift-Olivia Rodrigo rivalry heating up the Grammys (FULL STORY)

Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo met for the first time at the 2021 BRIT Awards. But some believe things have soured between them since then.

When the biggest names in music battle it out at the Grammys on Sunday night, all eyes will be on Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo.

The stars will go head to head in the three biggest categories: Record, Album, and Song of the Year at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

But some in the industry — and plenty of fans online — are convinced there is a rivalry that goes well beyond the Grammys. Everyone is waiting to see just where the two will be seated.

“They’re both huge stars, so they’ll both be in the front row — but I can’t see them being too close together,” one well-placed music insider told Page Six.

During the North American leg of her Eras tour last year, she brought along Gracie Abrams, Phoebe Bridgers, Beabadoobee, and others as openers.

Noticeably absent was Rodrigo.

“Olivia could have been on stage during the Eras tour — she could have been part of Taylor’s inner circle — but I don’t think she showed enough respect,” a one source familiar with Swift’s music dealings told Page Six.

Rodrigo called herself the biggest Swiftie in the world — then had to give credit and royalties to her hero.Olivia Rodrigo/Instagram

Both stars are signed to Universal Music Group (UMG) but the pair have faced rumors about their relationship ever since Rodrigo, 20, was forced to give Swift, 34, a credit on her song “Deja Vu” — and a small fortune in royalties.

Although Rodrigo recently said she has “no beef” with anyone and Page Six is told that Swift herself has no problem with the young star, we are also told that, behind the scenes, Swift’s legal camp intervened after the release of “Deja Vu.”

Meanwhile, Rodrigo has never explicitly denied that her song “Vampire” is about Swift.

Swift picked up Album of the Year at the 2021 Grammys for “Folklore,” joined by collaborators Jack Antonoff (center) and Aaron Dessner.Getty Images for The Recording Academy

At the time, Rodrigo — a former child star who rose to fame on the Disney+ show “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” — was, she said, the “biggest Swiftie in the whole world.”

Her “entire life just, like, shifted in an instant,” Rodrigo told the New York Times, when she released her debut single, the teen heartbreak ballad “Driver’s License,” which she co-wrote with producer Dan Nigro, in January 2021.

Within a week it broke Spotify records and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Rodrigo won three Grammys including Best New Artist, and Best Pop Solo Performance, in 2022.Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Rodrigo met her hero, Swift, at the BRIT Awards soon after, with the pair posing for a photo.

“I say that’s my baby and I’m proud,” Swift crowed about Rodrigo on social media and gave the younger artist a ring similar to one she wore while making her “Red” album.

But when “Sour” was released that May, things got a little bitter.

The album originally gave a songwriting credit to Swift and her frequent collaborator, Jack Antonoff, for “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back,” which interpolates the Swift song “New Year’s Day” — essentially, taking a note-for-note section of the song and re-recording it.

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Weeks later, Swift and Antonoff’s names were quietly added to the credits for “Deja Vu,” another song on Rodrigo’s album, for an interpolation of “Cruel Summer” by Swift. (“Cruel Summer” songwriter Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, was also added to the “Deja Vu” credit.)

But this wasn’t just about credit; it also meant money.

Billboard reported that Swift, Antonoff, and Clark would share a 50% stake in the song, while Rodrigo and producer Nigro split the rest.

This amounted to $325,678 in publishing royalties for Swift, $260,542 for Antonoff, and $65,135 for St. Vincent.

Rodrigo has never explicitly denied that her songs “The Grudge” and “Vampire” are about Swift.Getty Images for MTV
Page Six has reached out to both Swift and Rodrigo’s camps for comment.

Rodrigo also had to belatedly give songwriting credits to Paramore — whose singer, Hayley Williams, is a good friend and tour mate of Swift — on another No. 1 hit, “Good 4 U,” which allegedly interpolated that band’s song “Misery Business.”

“It seems like people get funny about things when songs become really popular,” Nigro told Time.

Notably, when someone on Twitter pointed out that Rodrigo’s song “Brutal” was “a pretty much direct lift from Elvis Costello” and his song “Pump It Up,” Costello was quick to defend Rodrigo.