If you spent any part of 2024 humming "Espresso" or watching a certain bloody music video starring Jenna Ortega, you’ve probably fallen down the rabbit hole. It’s the one involving Shawn Mendes and Sabrina Carpenter. Or, more accurately, the messy, confusing, and very musical "situationship" that seems to have inspired some of the biggest pop hits of the decade.
For a while there, it felt like everyone was playing detective. Why was Shawn wearing a birthstone necklace? Did Sabrina really just shade Camila Cabello? Is Shawn actually "dumb and poetic"?
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Honestly, the timeline is a bit of a blur if you aren’t paying close attention. But when you look at the lyrics and the paparazzi shots side-by-side, a very specific story starts to emerge. It’s a story about bad timing, unresolved exes, and the kind of "short n' sweet" romance that leaves a massive mark.
The 2023 "Situationship" Timeline
It all started in February 2023. This was about a year and a half after Shawn and Camila Cabello (the internet's beloved "Shawmila") first called it quits.
The gossip mill started churning when DeuxMoi posted a tip about Shawn and Sabrina looking "verry comfortable" at a restaurant called Horses in Los Angeles. A few days later, they were spotted walking together, smiling and looking like the prototype for a new A-list power couple.
Key Moments in March 2023:
- The Miley Party: On March 10, they both attended Miley Cyrus’s Endless Summer Vacation release party. They tried to leave separately to avoid the cameras, but Shawn was caught on video giddily twirling before opening a car door for Sabrina.
- The Oscars: They were seen chatting and hanging out at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 12.
- The "Confirmation": Entertainment Tonight dropped a report on March 13 claiming a source confirmed they were "seeing each other" and "trying to keep things low-key."
Then came the curveball. Just four days after the dating rumors were essentially confirmed by insiders, Shawn went on the Dutch show RTL Boulevard. When asked about the rumors, he flat-out denied it. "We are not dating," he said, before awkwardly trying to pivot the conversation back to his Tommy Hilfiger collaboration.
The Coachella Plot Twist
If things were "low-key" with Sabrina, they went up in flames in April 2023. That’s when the world saw those viral videos of Shawn and Camila Cabello kissing at Coachella.
Suddenly, Sabrina seemed to be out of the picture.
Shawn and Camila spent the next few months holding hands in New York and having dinner dates, seemingly giving their relationship a second shot. By June 2023, however, that rekindled flame had flickered out again. But for Sabrina, the damage was seemingly done. She didn't say much at the time, but as we now know, she was taking notes. Very detailed notes.
Decoding the Lyrics: Short n' Sweet
When Sabrina released her album Short n' Sweet in August 2024, fans didn't have to look hard for the references. The songs "Taste," "Coincidence," and "Sharpest Tool" felt like a direct response to that chaotic spring of 2023.
In "Taste," she sings: "I heard you're back together and if that's true / You'll just have to taste me when he's kissin' you." It’s a bold, gritty take on a guy going back to his ex.
Then there’s "Coincidence," which feels like the most direct timeline of the Shawn-Sabrina-Camila triangle. She mentions how the "second I put my head on your chest," the ex-girlfriend magically reappears. The most biting line? "Palm Springs looks nice, but who's by your side?" Since Coachella is held in the Palm Springs area, the connection is pretty hard to ignore.
Is "Dumb & Poetic" about Shawn?
Fans certainly think so. The song describes a guy who uses "self-help books" and "mushrooms" to seem deep while being emotionally unavailable. Given Shawn’s public openness about his mental health journey and his admission that he experimented with mushrooms during his break from music, the lyrics felt... specific.
Shawn’s Side: The "John Mayer" Confession
For a long time, Shawn stayed quiet. But in late 2024, during an interview with John Mayer on SiriusXM, he got surprisingly vulnerable. He talked about a situation where he was "with someone" but realized he had "unresolved feelings" for an ex.
He admitted to being impulsive. He talked about how "no one gets out of this life without hurting someone."
On his own 2024 album, simply titled Shawn, songs like "In Between" and "That’ll Be the Day" seem to echo this sentiment. In "In Between," he describes a situationship where the other person wants commitment, but he's just "not there yet." It’s a classic case of two people being on completely different pages.
Why This Matters for Fans
What makes the Shawn Mendes and Sabrina Carpenter saga so fascinating isn't just the gossip—it’s the art it produced. We’ve seen this before (think Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo), where a brief relationship fuels a massive creative era.
For Sabrina, this "situationship" helped propel her to main-pop-girl status. She took a confusing, perhaps even hurtful, experience and turned it into "Espresso"-level success. For Shawn, it seems to have been a catalyst for a more raw, honest approach to his songwriting.
Takeaways for Your Own "Situationships"
- Closure isn't always a conversation: Sometimes, like Sabrina, you find closure by processing your feelings through your own work or hobbies.
- The "Ex" Factor: If someone tells you they have "unresolved feelings" for an ex, believe them the first time.
- Timing is everything: You can be a great person and they can be a great person, but if the timing is off, the relationship usually is too.
If you’re looking to dive deeper into the music, listen to Sabrina’s Short n' Sweet and Shawn’s Shawn back-to-back. It’s basically a "he-said, she-said" told through some of the best pop production of the last few years. Just don't expect a reconciliation anytime soon; Sabrina has moved on with Barry Keoghan, and Shawn seems focused on his own "beautifully complex" journey.