The Olivia Rodrigo shirt blasphemy controversy, explained

Love her or hate her; Olivia Rodrigo is everywhere lately. Not only are we still playing her latest album Guts on repeat but the “Obsessed” singer is currently on a world tour, though not without a little controversy. 

Rodrigo is no stranger to controversy — promotion for Guts was nearly overshadowed by rumors of a feud with megastar Taylor Swift and her decision to donate money to provide reproductive healthcare was met with some criticism (though hopefully we can all agree that’s a great cause). Now she’s once again angered some fans.

On a June 18 tour stop in Barcelona, Spain, Rodrigo got some attention for wearing a shirt with a design some considered a little scandalous, if not downright blasphemous. A fan gifted Rodrigo with a shirt emblazoned with Rodrigo’s face edited on top of the body of Jesus while she was on stage and Rodrigo put on the shirt for the remainder of her song, “Favorite Crime.” While many of her fans seemed to think the shirt’s design was made all in good fun, some believed it mocked their Christian faith. 

“It’s disrespectful because it’s mocking God,” one user commented on a TikTok of the concert. “Putting someone’s face on Jesus is like calling them God [sic] it’s not right.” Others compared it to fellow pop star Sabrina Carpenter, who famously sells merchandise featuring the slogan, “Jesus was a Carpenter.” “Guys [sic] Sabrina did the same thing and no one talked about it,” one commenter wrote about the controversy.

While many commenters believe Carpenter’s merch has escaped criticism, this isn’t the case in reality. A video of her performing at Coachella has a comment section much like the videos of Olivia; she is both praised and vilified for the shirt in almost equal measure. It’s not the first time pop stars have been accused of blasphemy — name a more iconic duo than Madonna and religious iconography — and it won’t be the last. Rodrigo’s obviously lost some fans for accepting the shirt but she’s no doubt gained some too as evidenced by the dozens of TikToks critiquing the whole controversy as silly.

However you feel about Rodrigo wearing the shirt, it seems the incident mostly gained traction on social media and the majority of Rodrigo’s fans neither know nor care. Rodrigo’s career is unlikely to be negatively affected by what, ultimately, was a simple interaction between Rodrigo and a (hopefully) well-meaning fan. Meanwhile, if you’re still a fan and in the market for your own Rodrigo merch, you’re in luck.