Olivia Rodrigo’s ex-boyfriend Zack Bia has heard the rumors that “Vampire” is about him, but he doesn’t agree.
“I don’t think it’s really about me,” Bia, 27, told GQ in an interview published on Monday, September 18. “I think the internet just ran with it.”
Bia, who is a musician himself, went on to admit that he could see the song’s subject being a composite of him and other men in Rodrigo’s past, but he doesn’t think his split from the Disney alum was a big enough deal to merit such a scathing track. “Look, I’m in the industry so I know how a song gets made,” he explained. “We hung out, we’re both busy and we ended up not furthering our relationship. There was never any drama, you know?”
Rodrigo, 20, and Bia called it quits in August 2022 after several months of dating. “Their relationship sort of fizzled. They were casually dating but haven’t spent time together in a while,” an insider exclusively told Us Weekly at the time. “There were no issues — they both have different work schedules and different friend groups.”
The duo first sparked romance rumors in February 2022 when they were spotted hanging out at a Super Bowl party. Two months later, the pair were photographed strolling in New York City. In the snaps, Bia appeared to have his arm around Rodrigo, fueling speculation that the twosome were more than friends.
When Rodrigo dropped “Vampire” — the first single from her latest album, Guts — in June, fans immediately began wondering whether the song was about Bia. The track is about a bad breakup and includes lines like, “Six months of torture you sold as some forbidden paradise / I loved you truly, gotta laugh at the stupidity.”
The song also hinted that the titular bloodsucker was older than Rodrigo: “Can’t figure out just how you do it and God knows I never will / Went for me, and not her, ’cause girls your age know better.”
While Bia doesn’t think these lines are about him, he’s a big fan of “Vampire” and is happy it’s become a hit. “The song’s so big and so awesome. Look, a heartbreak song for the summertime, it’s an undefeated formula,” he told GQ. “I think Olivia is a generational songwriter. I think she’s a generational talent. I’m always just proud of her continued accomplishments.”
Other listeners have theorized that “Vampire” isn’t about an ex-boyfriend at all and is instead about Taylor Swift. Rodrigo has long described herself as a fan of Swift, 33, and cited the superstar as an inspiration for some of her biggest hits. In July 2021, however, Swift and collaborator Jack Antonoff were given retroactive cowriting credits on Rodrigo’s song “Deja Vu,” leading to rumors that Rodrigo and Swift had fallen out. (They were also credited on “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back,” which interpolates Swift’s song “New Year’s Day.”)
Earlier this month, however, Rodrigo said she was “very surprised” that some fans saw “Vampire” as a dig at Swift. “I mean, I never want to say who any of my songs are about,” she told The Guardian. “I’ve never done that before in my career and probably won’t. I think it’s better to not pigeonhole a song to being about this one thing.”
