It’s official — the pop universe just got even messier. Charli XCX and Jack Antonoff have teamed up to create music for A24’s upcoming film Mother Mary, and fans are spiraling. Why? Because Antonoff’s name is nowhere to be found on Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl — their first non-collaboration in over a decade.
And now he’s producing music with Charli XCX, whose Brat album already had Swifties on edge. Yeah, it’s giving “creative breakup energy.”
From Taylor’s Studio to Charli’s World
Antonoff and Swift have been practically joined at the hip since 1989, co-producing every album from Reputation to The Tortured Poets Department. But The Life of a Showgirl marked a full-blown sonic pivot — no Antonoff, no Bleachers touch. Instead, Swift called up pop titans Max Martin and Shellback, reviving her early 2010s sound and leaving fans wondering if something had shifted behind the scenes.
Then came the twist: Antonoff resurfaces in Charli’s world, crafting songs for Mother Mary, a David Lowery-directed A24 drama starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel. Charli told Vanity Fair that the music they made was “unlike anything I’d create for my artist project — but still something I truly love.” Translation? She’s in her film score bag.
But this collaboration didn’t just make headlines for artistic reasons — it blew up because of the tangled web connecting Charli, Antonoff, and Swift.
The Pop Culture Triangle
This isn’t just about one collab. It’s about a layered story fans have been piecing together for months.
Charli’s Brat standout “Sympathy Is a Knife” was widely interpreted as being inspired by her insecurities around Swift, given that Charli is married to George Daniel of The 1975 — the same band fronted by Matty Healy, Swift’s rumored ex. It’s like a fan-fiction multiverse that accidentally became real life.
Then came Swift’s Actually Romantic, which dropped lines like “I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’” — lyrics fans immediately decoded as a pointed response to Charli’s Brat energy. The pop back-and-forth became the fandom version of a lyrical boxing match, dissected under every Genius annotation thread and TikTok lyric theory page.
Add in Antonoff’s absence from Swift’s project, and the internet collectively went: “Wait… what’s going on?”
The Antonoff Equation
For years, Jack Antonoff has been the invisible glue of the modern pop era — the guy behind Swift’s confessional ballads, Lorde’s Melodrama, Lana’s Norman F**ing Rockwell*, and Charli’s Crash sessions. But in 2025, his moves look different.
He’s expanding into film music, curating cinematic soundscapes that don’t necessarily fit Swift’s evolving retro-pop direction. And Charli — who’s always existed between avant-garde chaos and chart-ready pop — is the perfect partner for that experimentation.
Meanwhile, Antonoff’s wife, Margaret Qualley, added even more fuel to the fandom fire when she told Interview Magazine she “channeled Matty Healy’s persona” for her new role in Honey, Don’t! The irony? That connects Antonoff’s household directly to Swift’s most talked-about ex. You can’t make this up.
The Cinematic Turn of Charli XCX
Beyond the drama, this collab shows how Charli is evolving. Between Brat’s cultural chokehold and her growing presence in film, she’s blurring the line between pop star and auteur.
She also stars in A24’s The Moment, alongside Alexander Skarsgård, continuing her streak of unpredictable creative choices. While she’s unsure if another solo album is coming soon, she’s clearly thriving in narrative-driven, experimental projects.
Charli told Vanity Fair:
“I feel like my problem with a lot of musician documentaries is they often show the artist overcoming opposition to become the hero — and that’s just not been my experience.”
Some fans saw that as subtle shade toward Swift’s freshly announced The End of an Era Disney+ docuseries chronicling her Eras Tour. Whether that’s intentional or not, Charli’s words perfectly capture her own brand of anti-gloss authenticity — one that thrives on chaos, humor, and brutal honesty.
behind the scenes with @charli_xcx https://t.co/Ffk0Tw69dq pic.twitter.com/HvHxoNED8A
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) October 14, 2025
What It All Means
Whether there’s real tension between Swift and Antonoff or just fan-projected drama, one thing’s clear: Charli and Antonoff’s Mother Mary soundtrack marks a bold new chapter for both.
Antonoff is branching beyond the pop star bubble he helped define, and Charli is stepping into cinematic territory that could reshape her creative identity.
And for fans? It’s pure catnip — a crossover of pop’s most chaotic storylines, wrapped in A24 aesthetics.
FAQ
1. What is Charli XCX’s role in Mother Mary?
Charli XCX co-wrote and produced original songs for A24’s Mother Mary alongside Jack Antonoff.
2. Why isn’t Jack Antonoff on Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl?
Swift instead reunited with Max Martin and Shellback for a new sonic direction, leading to fan speculation about a creative rift with Antonoff.
3. Did Charli XCX and Taylor Swift feud?
Neither has confirmed a feud, but lyrical parallels and shared collaborators have fueled ongoing fan theories.
Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl Is Her Boldest Era Yet
The Takeaway
Pop’s biggest players are reshuffling the board. Charli XCX is stepping into cinema, Antonoff’s gone auteur, and Taylor’s rewriting her own mythology. Whether this is real tension or just pop’s most intricate group project, one thing’s for sure — the drama sounds amazing.