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Culture > Entertainment

OK, But Who TF Is Sabrina Carpenter Singing About On “Sharpest Tool?”

Sofia Mosqueda

It’s time: Sabrina Carpenter dropped her album Short n’ Sweet on Aug. 23 and fans are eating it up just as they did with viral hits “Espresso” and “Please Please Please.” With a total of 12 songs on the tracklist, Carpenter’s album is all about heartbreak and honesty — especially her heartache anthem “Sharpest Tool.” But who is “Sharpest Tool” about? Well, the internet has some theories. 

Carpenter told Apple Music on Aug. 22, “I feel a thread running through this album of not just self-discovery, but also getting through the heartache and heartbreak that can often
 Man, it can really break you for a long time.” So, who’s the cheating, toxic ex that Carpenter’s ruminating on? No one can say for sure, but there have been a few theories circulating on the internet, and, well, it seems like a mixed bag.

Some users think that Joshua Basset is, without a doubt, the “evil ex” that Carpenter’s singing about because of the drama that ensued back in 2021. When Olivia Rodrigo dropped her hit song “Driver’s License,” it sparked some rumors that she was referencing the drama brewing with Basset, Rodrigo, and Carpenter. While fans believed Rodrigo and Basset were together during this time, Carpenter was spotted with Basset in L.A. in 2020, which led many to believe she had driven a wedge between Rodrigo and Basset’s romantic fling. 

Though none of the singers have said anything about these conspiracies, many still believe that Carpenter has ongoing problems with Basset, as fans believed that her 2022 album Emails I Can’t Send was about him. However, Carpenter was quick to shut those rumors down, saying, “This song is not about Joshua Basset” in the middle of her performance of the song “Nonsense.” 

While it’s possible Carpenter wants to reflect back on the 2020 drama with Basset in “Sharpest Tool,” other fans have reason to believe that it’s actually about her short romance with singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes. 

The rumors about Carpenter and Mendes’s relationship started back in 2023, as the two of them were photographed together on multiple occasions, such as leaving Miley Cyrus’s album release party. However, Mendes put the rumors to bed when he shared with RTL Boulevard that the two of them weren’t dating. Afterward, Mendes was promptly seen with singer Camila Cabello, his on-again, off-again girlfriend of several years.

So, Who is “Sharpest Tool” About? Sabrina Carpenter Fans Have some thoughts.

“Sharpest Tool” could very well be about either Basset or Mendes considering Short n’ Sweet centers on the short relationships that have affected her. “I called it Short n’ Sweet for multiple reasons,” Carpenter explained in the Apple Music interview. “I thought about some of these relationships and how some of them were the shortest I’ve ever had, and they affected me the most.” 

One lyric that especially points toward both Mendes and Basset is “We never talk about how you / found God at your ex’s house, always.” Basset recently spoke publicly about his growth after establishing his newfound Evangelical faith on Bru On The Radio. “The peace that I was looking for, I was reading all these books and trying to find, like, that answer to life and why we are we here and looking for that love, and every single time I felt like I was getting progress, but I was actually reaching a dead end,” he said. “And I was even more and more depressed and more and more addicted, and I fell into these holes, and I wasn’t feeling that peace until I literally had the most insane encounter with Jesus.”

On the other hand, Mendes has a similar story, as he went from being an atheist to a devoted Christian. With both of her exes being deeply entwined in their faith, it gives fans even more reason to believe “Sharpest Tool” is digging at one of them for turning to religion after a disastrous heartbreak. 

While no one can really say who the terrible ex is on “Sharpest Tool,” we’ll just have to wait and see what Carpenter herself has to say about it. In the meantime, looping Short n’ Sweet on repeat sounds like the best thing to do right now. 

Sofia is a third-year Writing & Literature major at UCSB. In her free time, she enjoys watching anime, playing video games, and drinking chai tea.