2024 Was Crazy, Welcome to 2025, Let's Talk About Sabrina Carpenter

The political drama indirectly caused by the stars of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series

Welcome to another new year of The Transom, readers! I’ll be back with the normal schedule on Monday, along with announcing the return of the Book Club for primo members (which took a break in the midst of the lunacy of the 2024 political summer). Before that, though, be sure to listen to this conversation with Ross Anderson of The Spectator on the latest podcast about the movies and TV we liked in 2024, as well as some Hollywood industry chat:

So as a last thought on the year gone by, let’s talk about a butterfly effect story for a moment. A few of you asked over the holidays about a post on X (the everything app, where everything is happening) where I noted that one of my favorite stories of 2024 is about how Sabrina Carpenter stealing Olivia Rodrigo’s boyfriend led to the indictment of Eric Adams. Allow me to explain, and the key item to know about is this music video:

My comment was an exaggeration, but only slightly. For those of you unfamiliar, we’re talking about this era of Disney stars turned automatic popstars, and there’s a whole lot of background of dubious necessity. I’ll just give you this Vox summary, published on a site which started out as an explainer for how Obamacare was great that now runs on explaining stuff like “Carpenter’s signature combination of Betty Boop-ish sex appeal undercut by an extremely self-aware edge”:

Turn the clock back a little over three years: 17-year-old Olivia Rodrigo had just burst on the scene with “Drivers License,” an angsty ballad about a boy who broke her heart. In it, Rodrigo hints that the breakup involved another woman. “And you’re probably with that blonde girl,” she sings, adding: “She’s so much older than me. She’s everything I’m insecure about.”

Since this is an article about Sabrina Carpenter, and Carpenter is blonde and four-ish years older than Rodrigo, you’ve probably guessed that Carpenter is who Rodrigo might be singing about.

Rodrigo acted on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, a show on Disney+, and was rumored to be dating co-star Joshua Bassett. The two wrote songs together, some of which were featured on the program. The characters they played — Nini and Ricky — were a romantic pair. Disney couldn’t have asked for a better script.

But in August 2020, Rodrigo hinted she was going through a breakup. Around the same time, Bassett was spotted with Carpenter, a fellow Disney star. Adding fuel to the fire, Bassett and Carpenter donned a couples costume for Halloween, going as Sharkboy and Lavagirl.

Despite all these public appearances and social media clues, Rodrigo, Carpenter, and Bassett have never explicitly addressed the love triangle they may or may not have been a part of. But they haven’t explicitly denied the rumors either. Like Rodrigo, Carpenter seems to have turned it into music.

Carpenter seemed to address the drama in her 2021 song “Skin.” “Maybe you didn’t mean it. Maybe blonde was the only rhyme,” Carpenter sings, telling the subject of her song — who may or may not be Rodrigo — that she’s sorry but not that sorry, and she won’t let the digs get under her, under her, under her skin.

You can do a deep dive on the theories about these relationships, but the short version is, whether Carpenter actually stole Bassett or not, it was a point of beef between the younger and far more talented Rodrigo. Fans had to choose sides. And then another unrelated beef started a year later, one with a far more powerful force: Taylor Swift. Rodrigo and her writing partner were forced to add credits for Swift to multiple songs, with the attendant royalties, after admitting to “interpolating” “New Year’s Day” on the hit — an explainer here:

Ever since 2021, my Roman Empire has been the Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo beef. As someone who lives for high-quality pop music and worships both of these ladies, it breaks my heart to see these two in a fairly obvious cold war. It all started with the damn “deja vu” credits — Taylor deemed the Olivia hit too similar to “Cruel Summer” and somehow walked away with 50 percent of the “deja vu” writing credits. Olivia went from the biggest Swiftie in the world to literally never uttering Taylor’s name again. She openly admitted to disapproving of the writing credits situation and notably hasn’t been to the Eras Tour or posted anything about Taylor’s last few albums.

You know whenever you get into a petty fight with Taylor Swift, she doesn’t play around, she destroys everything before her like a skinny blonde Kaiju. So lo and behold, she suddenly becomes interested in boosting Sabrina Carpenter. From the always insightful commentator GaylorSwift:

Does anyone find it weird how suddenly Taylor took Sabrina Carpenter under her wing? Especially after the supposed feud between Olivia Rodrigo? She's everywhere with Taylor. Award shows, opening the Eras Tour, public outings and even at the football games. It's especially weird for a 30+ lady hanging with someone in their early 20's. Strangely, Taylor even spotlighted Sabrina's cover of WNEGBT, but not Guts. 🤔

Olivia hit it big at such a young age. Disney star, Swiftie and broke out during the Pandemic era and her first album was a hit. Taylor seemingly gave Olivia her blessing, Olivia and Conan spotlighted Fearless TV, but Taylor wouldn't do the same for their albums? Weird since Taylor claimed them as her kids. and then the copyright thing happened. Olivia stopped talking about Taylor and vice versa.

Suddenly Taylor associates herself with someone Olivia has alleged heat with. Sabrina has good music, but doesn't get the attraction Olivia got, suddenly Taylor picks her out of nowhere and she's seemingly getting popular and it just raises some questions.

My theory is basically this. Taylor doesn't want to be seen as a 30+ woman competing unfairly against a rising 20 year old or as the crazy old lady trying to sabotage a young woman's career. So the next best thing. She can build up this young talented woman who she feels doesn't get the attention she deserves, be seen as this great mentor while at the same time conspiring to use Sabrina against Olivia.

So psychological/guerrilla warfare.

She’s going to be pushing Sabrina really hard to compete with Olivia in the mainstream she’s been moving Sabrina’s seats at award shows for a year now to sit next to her when Sabrina is usually seated rows back at the beginning of the program she’s having Sabrina open for her on tour and at all her parties including the one she threw at electric lady on Olivia’s album release night now Sabrina has been working in the studio with Jack Antonoff and I have no doubt Taylor will give the album a big shout out when Sabrina’s 6th album comes out she’s trying to send a message imo all of these pr opportunities for Sabrina even though she’s like 24 and they’re all in their like mid 30s. There’s a reason why Olivia immediately left the VMAs after her performance and didn’t stick around to sit next to them on the front row.

This is WWE level enemy of my enemy bitchiness. But what does this have to do with Eric Adams? Well, for that, let’s introduce Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello and his world famous tomato sauce:

Gigantiello is a priest with a big personality and a big penchant for fundraising. He also happens to be the person responsible for letting Carpenter, now a rising star with new Taylor Swift-boosted success, film in his church — Our Lady of Mount Carmel–Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish — prompting a massive backlash and investigation into his fundraising, donations, and expenditures.

Pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter is everywhere — even the chorus of scandals around Mayor Eric Adams.

The brouhaha began with the pint-size singer’s racy music video, showing her writhing in a little black dress at the altar of a Brooklyn church, moments after men bloodily killed themselves over her.

An unholy uproar ensued, leading an “appalled” bishop to discipline the flamboyant Catholic priest who opened the church’s doors to the booty-baring Carpenter.

Sabrina Carpenter’s sultry video in a Brooklyn church may have led the feds to subpoena a priest and one of Eric Adams’ closest allies.Sabrina Carpenter/YouTube

And now, the sacrilegious saga has ended in an unlikely place — with the sultry Sabrina putting the hitherto unknown priest and church on the radar of feds investigating corruption around Adams.

Brooklyn diocese officials, when asked by The Post for comment on a subpoena last week seeking information about business dealings between Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello and Adams’ ex-chief of staff Frank Carone, responded with a statement that linked it to an internal investigation over Carpenter’s music video.

“It would be inappropriate to comment further on that review, which is still ongoing,” diocese officials said in a statement to The Post.

Gigantiello was dismissed from his duties after the diocese investigation showed he had transferred nearly $2 million in parish funds to accounts owned or controlled by Frank Carone, the mayor’s former chief of staff:

Gigantiello — who once held a high-ranking fundraising position in the diocese before he was removed last year — transferred $1.9 million in parish funds between 2019 and 2021 to bank accounts affiliated with a law firm and two companies owned by Frank Carone, the mayor’s former chief of staff, according to the internal review, which was conducted by Alvarez & Marsal and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

Gigantiello transferred $1 million to Abrams Fensterman, a law firm at one point owned by Carone, in January 2019, but didn’t inform the diocese or seek approval for the transfer. He didn’t document it or obtain necessary paperwork, a diocesan spokesperson said. Under diocesan rules, any transfer of $30,000 or more requires approval from the bishop.

The loan was paid back with 9% interest between June 2020 and June 2021, a spokesperson for the diocese said.

In August 2021 and November 2021, Gigantiello again made two additional transfers totaling $900,000 to two companies owned by Carone: Cesco, LLC and Lex Ave 660 Partners LLC — again without informing the diocese, a spokesperson said.

Gigantiello told THE CITY the transfer of money were investments that yielded big returns for his parish.

Oh, sure, “investments” — interest free, you know, spending money with friends, friends who make the big bucks defrauding insurers. Oh, and also there’s a racist recording here, too, because of course there is. More from NBC New York:

The Diocese says it learned of the alleged "serious violations" as part of ongoing legal investigations into the federal corruption scandal. In September, News 4 reported that Catholic church in Williamsburg had received a subpoena requesting information about financial or business dealing between Frank Carone, one-time chief of staff to Adams, and Gigantiello.

At the time, the two claimed a decades-long friendship.

Gigantiello was also the monsignor who allowed the filming of Sabrina Carpenter's pop music video at the church, which the Diocese says was against policy. He lost status immediately after that incident, too. His replacement, Deacon Dobbins, also has been put on administrative leave. The church alleges Gigantiello ordered someone to record a private conversation with Dobbins that happened in Parish office. Dobbins used offensive and racist language during that conversation, the church says, and while the recording was made without his consent, it says he's accountable.

The review that exposed these findings was borne of Bishop Robert Brennan's initiation of a broad assessment of compliance with Diocesan policies at Our Lady of Mount Carmel. According to the findings, Gigantiello transfered $1.9 million in Parish funds to bank accounts associated with Carone's law firm as well as two affiliated companies.

Gigantiello — who besides owning a 7.5% stake in one of Carone’s companies, also traveled with him and Mayor Adams to meet Pope Francis in Rome — described the whole situation as a “witch hunt” to the National Catholic Reporter in November. He also claimed he had no idea what kind of video Carpenter would make, which… doesn’t really stand the taste test. She’s got a thing she does, and she does it over and over.

You may not care about any of this, I just find it hilarious. And yes, I know Adams has a helluva lot more legal problems than just those that run through Carone. But the butterfly effect is strong with this one.