In a charming segment aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live Tuesday night, newly-minted pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo told the host that alongside her ascent to major label success have come some challenges, as well as embarrassments. Chief among them is the realization that after receiving a series of gifts during a visit to President Joe Biden, she ended up telling Kimmel during a previous visit that Biden had gifted her a shoehorn when, in fact, it was an ice cream scooper.
“He gave me a bag of like, President Biden goodies and M&M’s and stuff, and I was like, what is this weird thing,” Rodrigo said. “I went on the air and I was like, ‘President Biden gave me a shoehorn, ha ha!’ I went home and found out it was an ice cream scoop, and so I lied to you. It’s so obvious that I have no idea what a shoehorn looks like.”
Rodrigo also, delightfully, surprised Kimmel’s children, who are huge fans of her music, by gatecrashing their morning ride to school and rendering the 9 and 6 year-olds blushingly shocked.
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The most revealing moment of Rodrigo’s appearance, though, came when she told Kimmel that her original lyrics for two of her biggest hits from Guts, “get him back” and “all-american bitch,” had motifs that were more explicit than they eventually became.
“I love using a swear word when I think it’s tasteful and necessary, but sometimes, I try to tone it down,” Rodrigo told Kimmel. “There were a few songs on the album where I was swearing all over them and I had to pair it back.”
Rodrigo originally wrote “I miss the way he kisses and the way he grabs my ass” for “get him back,” which eventually became “I miss the way he kisses and the way he makes me laugh;” for “all-american bitch,” Rodrigo initially envisioned the lyric “perfect, all-American lips, and perfect, all-American tits” before the latter phrase became “perfect, all-American hips.”
Let Olivia Rodrigo cuss, record labels! We need her to, because Taylor Swift sure won’t.
