Pop culture is obsessed with a good heartbreak story. Honestly, it’s the fuel that runs the music industry. When Sabrina Carpenter released "Emails I Can’t Send," the internet basically exploded. Everyone started asking the same question: did Sabrina get cheated on, or was it just a messy breakup?
It’s complicated.
Music is rarely a deposition. It’s an emotional snapshot. When you dive into the lore surrounding Sabrina, Joshua Bassett, and Olivia Rodrigo, you aren't just looking at a timeline; you’re looking at three different perspectives on a single, very public collapse. The "cheating" narrative didn't just appear out of thin air. It was built, brick by brick, through lyrics, TikTok theories, and some very poorly timed paparazzi photos.
The Love Triangle That Defined a Decade of Pop
To understand the rumors about whether Sabrina was the "other woman" or if she was the one betrayed, you have to go back to 2020. This was the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series era. Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo were the "it" couple that never officially confirmed they were a couple. Then, suddenly, they weren't.
Enter Sabrina.
When Olivia dropped "drivers license" in early 2021, the line about a "blonde girl" who was "so much older than me" became the shot heard 'round the world. Sabrina was 21; Olivia was 17. The math checked out. The internet instantly branded Sabrina as a homewrecker. It was brutal. People didn't just wonder did Sabrina get cheated on; they assumed she was the reason someone else was cheated on.
But narrative is a fickle thing.
Sabrina’s response came in the form of "Skin." She sang about how "you can try to get under my skin while he’s on mine." It was defiant. It was catchy. It also confirmed that there was a massive amount of friction between these three stars. However, "Skin" didn't address the cheating rumors directly—it addressed the public perception of the conflict.
What the Lyrics Actually Tell Us
Years later, Sabrina released the album Emails I Can't Send. This is where the "did Sabrina get cheated on" conversation shifted. In the title track, she talks about a father’s infidelity and how it ruined her perception of love. That’s a factual biographical detail. But songs like "How Many Things" and "opposite" paint a picture of a guy who is still hung up on his ex.
That’s a specific kind of betrayal.
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It isn't always about someone sneaking around in the middle of the night. Sometimes, getting "cheated on" in a metaphorical sense means being a placeholder. In "opposite," Sabrina laments that the guy went back to a girl who is the literal opposite of her. It suggests that while they were together, his heart was elsewhere.
Is that cheating? In the eyes of Stan Twitter, yes. In a legal sense, no.
The Joshua Bassett Factor
Joshua has spoken out about the intense stress of that period. He suffered a major health crisis (septic shock) shortly after the drama peaked. He’s never confirmed that he cheated on Olivia with Sabrina, nor has he confirmed he cheated on Sabrina with anyone else.
In fact, he’s mostly apologized for the way things handled.
If you look at the timeline, the "overlap" is the smoking gun for most fans. Joshua and Olivia seemed to be "together" (or at least deeply linked) until late summer 2020. By August/September 2020, he was spotted with Sabrina at a Black Lives Matter protest and later in lunch photos. If the transition happened in days rather than months, people call foul.
Why We Care So Much
We project. That's the truth. We see ourselves in the "blonde girl" or the "heartbroken songwriter."
The obsession with whether did Sabrina get cheated on stems from a desire to see her as a protagonist rather than a villain. For a long time, the internet hated her. They saw her as the person who stepped into a happy relationship and broke it. When she started releasing music that showed her own heartbreak, the narrative flipped.
Suddenly, she was the victim of a guy who couldn't make up his mind.
Breaking Down the "Evidence"
Let's look at the "how" and the "why" of the cheating rumors without the rose-colored glasses:
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- The "drivers license" fallout: Olivia’s lyrics implied a betrayal of trust. If Joshua started seeing Sabrina before things were "officially" over with Olivia, that’s where the cheating label comes from.
- The "Emails" revelations: Sabrina’s later work suggests she felt used. If you are in a relationship with someone who is still texting their ex, many would consider that emotional infidelity.
- The Paparazzi Timeline: Photos of Sabrina and Joshua appeared very quickly after the rumored Olivia split. In Hollywood, "quickly" usually translates to "overlap" in the minds of fans.
The Evolution of the "Other Woman"
Sabrina has handled this better than most. She didn't stay quiet, but she didn't go on a scorched-earth press tour either. She turned the pain into Short n' Sweet.
If you listen to her 2024 hits like "Espresso" or "Please Please Please," you see a woman who has moved past the "did I get cheated on" phase of her life. She’s now the one in control. She’s making fun of the men she dates. She’s leaning into the "vamp" aesthetic.
It’s a masterclass in PR recovery.
By leaning into the rumors rather than running from them, she neutralized them. She turned a messy, potentially career-ending scandal into the foundation of a pop empire. She stopped being the "blonde girl" from someone else's song and became the main character of her own.
The Reality of Celebrity Timelines
We have to be honest: we will never know the exact date Joshua and Olivia stopped talking. We will never know the exact date he and Sabrina started.
Publicists are paid six figures to blur those lines.
When a celebrity "hard launches" a new relationship, they’ve usually been dating for months. If the hard launch happens two weeks after a breakup, they were almost certainly dating during the previous relationship. This is the "Hollywood Overlap." It happens so often it's basically a trope.
So, did Sabrina get cheated on?
If you believe that being with a man who is still obsessed with his ex is a form of betrayal, then yes. If you’re looking for a "Caught in the Act" video, you aren't going to find it. The "cheating" in the Sabrina/Joshua/Olivia saga was likely emotional, messy, and a byproduct of three very young people navigating fame for the first time.
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Moving Beyond the Rumors
Sabrina Carpenter is no longer defined by who she dated in 2020. Her success with Short n' Sweet proves that. She’s moved from Disney star to genuine pop royalty.
The rumors served their purpose. They gave her the "angst" needed to write a hit album. They gave her a loyal fanbase who felt the need to protect her from the "bully" narrative. But at some point, the music has to stand on its own.
And it does.
What You Can Learn From the Sabrina Saga
If you’re obsessing over a breakup or wondering if there was overlap in your own life, take a page out of Sabrina's book.
- Don't let others narrate your life. Sabrina was the villain for a year. She didn't argue; she just kept working until the music changed the conversation.
- Emotional cheating is real, but it's not the end of the world. Being a "rebound" or a "placeholder" sucks, but it often leads to the best growth.
- Perspective is everything. One person’s "new beginning" is another person’s "betrayal."
The truth about whether did Sabrina get cheated on stays between the people involved. But the art that came out of that uncertainty? That’s for everyone. We might never get a "Yes" or "No" answer, but we got "Feather" and "Nonsense," and honestly, that’s a pretty good trade-off.
If you want to understand the full scope of this drama, listen to the albums SOUR and Emails I Can't Send back-to-back. It’s the closest you’ll get to hearing both sides of the story without a tabloid filter. Just remember that every "truth" in pop music is filtered through a melody and a marketing team.
Stop looking for a smoking gun and start looking at the growth. Sabrina went from a girl caught in a headline to a woman headlining festivals. Whether she was cheated on or not is almost irrelevant now—she won the breakup by becoming a superstar.
Watch her live performances from the Short n' Sweet tour. You'll see a performer who isn't burdened by the 2021 drama anymore. She’s having fun. She’s witty. She’s completely over it. That’s the ultimate goal for anyone who’s ever been the subject of a rumor: making the rumor the least interesting thing about you.
The next time a song drops and the internet starts hunting for "clues" about infidelity, remember the Sabrina saga. It taught us that timelines are messy, feelings are volatile, and a great chorus can outlast any scandal. Keep your eyes on her upcoming projects; the focus has finally shifted from her past mistakes to her future hits.
That is how you handle a "cheating" rumor. You outgrow it.