The singer-actor says he doesn't want his EP to be 'overshadowed' by the fan-made musical feud.
Fans will have to wait a little longer for Joshua Bassett and Sabrina Carpenter's collaboration.
The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star shared why their highly anticipated song, "We Both Know," was not included in his upcoming self-titled debut EP. The track was instead replaced with "Telling Myself."
"I didn’t want my EP to be overshadowed by some other narrative that people were trying to make,” Bassett tells Billboard. "I really want the focus to be on the art instead of some of the talk and the chatter. You shouldn’t live to please everybody, but at the same time, there are ways to be sensitive to situations where maybe [‘We Both Know’] has a better chance at a different time."
The narrative includes the fan-made musical feud involving the actor's co-star and rumored ex, Olivia Rodrigo, and current rumored girlfriend, Carpenter. Last month, Rodrigo released "Drivers License," which contains lyrics that many think is about her, Bassett and Carpenter. Weeks later, Carpenter also released "Skin," adding fuel to the fire.
Bassett adds that while he and Carpenter are "super excited about" the song, he notes, "It was very much a mutual conversation about what is best right now for everybody and this whole situation."
Additionally, he says that he doesn’t "have any guarantee" that "We Both Know" will ever get released. It all depends on if the rumors die down.
Carpenter previously shared some insight about the collab, expressing that the song was "very dear" to her heart.
"I can't say too much and it's on his project so I'm like, I don't want to say too much that I can't say," Carpenter said during an interview with Radio.com earlier this month. "But it's a collaboration very dear to my heart that I'm very excited about."
Elsewhere in Bassett's interview, he does praise Rodrigo for her hit song being mentioned in a recent Saturday Night Live sketch. He was also name-checked in the skit.
"First, I was in disbelief -- [I was] mostly proud of Olivia,” he shares. "The fact that they were using her song in a sketch, I was like, ‘This is great. This is incredible!'...I was like, ‘I think I’m honored?' They poke fun at everyone and everything. That's the point of the show. I thought it was hilarious."
For more on Bassett's new music, see below.
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