Robbie Williams Explains Olivia Rodrigo Tweet: “I’m Not Going After Her”

Last Thursday, Olivia Rodrigo shared her first-ever Christmas song "take me home (4 christmas)." It has been surprisingly controversial. Holiday songs already tend to be pretty polarizing — some people love 'em, and some people can't stand 'em (moi). But Rodrigo's first go at it is fine, in my opinion.Over the past few days, however, the internet has gotten into a fuss about how it sounds similar to the Waitresses' 1981 classic "Christmas Wrapping." And although the cheeky vibe is there, it's not a rip-off. Rodrigo even reached out to the band's Christopher Butler months before the song's release. Butler then defended the pop star after plagiarism allegations started to build on the internet. Now, Robbie Williams has entered the conversation after people pointed out similarities to his 2012 song "Candy."On Saturday, Williams tweeted "Happy Christmas @oliviarodrigo x," which some people interpreted as shade. But this morning, Williams followed up with an Instagram post saying that he didn't mean to go after Rodrigo at all. His post pointed out how we're living in an absurd time where it's easy or trendy to comparison spiral about art. He did, however, jokingly call out Rodrigo for swearing: "Also, I cannot believe how much she swears on stage. And that's coming from me. I'm a Sweary Mary, but she's making me look like a Victorian schoolmistress."His full message reads:There's something about the music industry that's been bothering me for a while. People coming after people because they've spotted a similarity between two songs. Some of it I completely understand. Some of it is absolutely justified. Most of it, I think, is complete bollocks. I've had plenty of people come after me over the years because something I've released apparently sounds like something somebody else released. And sometimes I listen and think, fair enough, I can hear that. Other times I think, are you having a fucking laugh?There are only so many notes. Only so many chords. Only so many ways of putting them together before you inevitably find yourself somewhere somebody else has been. Music has been around for a very long time. We're all going to bump into each othereventually. Which brings me to Olivia Rodrigo. I love Olivia Rodrigo. I've loved her since "Brutal." What a fucking record. I wish I'd made it. Also, I cannot believe how much she swears on stage. And that's coming from me. I'm a Sweary Mary, but she's making me look like a Victorian schoolmistress. Anyway. It sounds to me as though she may have accidentally stumbled across a musical echo of mine in one of her new songs. And do you know what? I couldn't care less. I don't know whether there's technically a publishing issue, a copyright issue, or no issue whatsoever. And I don't want to know.I'm not going after her. Because I think at some point, some fucking sanity has to prevail. Now, I appreciate I'm in a position in my career where I can afford to take that view. Not everybody is. And genuine theft is genuine theft. Artists deserve to be protected. But there's a difference between protecting your work and treating every vaguely familiar sequence of notes as a winning lottery ticket. Some of this stuff has become ambulance chasing. And I think it's disgusting. We all stand on the shoulders of people who came before us. Sometimes consciously. Sometimes without even knowing it. That's how music works. If we keep punishing people for accidentally arriving somewhere somebody else has already been, eventually we're going to frighten the creativity out of everyone.Anyway. Olivia, if you're reading this, I think you're fucking brilliant. But please stop swearing so much. It makes me feel like I have to keep up. And frankly, I'm already swearing far more than is necessary. Lots of love and Happy ChristmasRob x