Fans left disappointed after finding out Charli XCX’s ‘Mean Girls’s muse is a New Right poster girl

Charli XCX’s summer release Brat is the album that has been on everyone’s lips this year, with its versatile array of songs captivating the imagination of even those who are not familiar with modern pop music.

While singles like “365,” “Apple,” and “Von Dutch” have been the proverbial poster boys of the hit album, there are some relatively less popular titles like “Mean Girls” that are steadily climbing the charts. There was brief initial speculation regarding who the song was about until the British singer-songwriter confirmed that it was partly inspired by Red Scare podcast co-host and actress Dasha Nekrasova.

Charli also mentioned that society’s fascination with mean girls and how women like her and her friend Gabriette Bechtel (model and musician) are perceived as “mean girls” because of their “succubus-looking, dead-eyed” appearance was also a factor in her creating the track.

Later, Nekrasova corroborated Charli’s comments to her Red Scare co-host Anna Khachiyan:

“Yeah, the Charli song is kind of like a party girl anthem. It’s a great song. She sent it to me a couple of months ago and told me about it.

Dasha Nekrasova/Red Scare podcast

Nekrasova continued, talking about the perception that the general audience has of her:

“It speaks to an idea people maybe have about me as like a naughty downtown and noisy party girl. Happy to be a muse whenevs, you know… if she did want to write a song about lying in bed, I’d probably listen to that one too.”

Dasha Nekrasova/Red Scare podcast

The song hasn’t been received particularly well by a section of Charli XCX’s fans, who have expressed disappointment over her ties with the podcaster and actress. Nekrasova has been noted to make a dynamic shift in her political stance, oscillating from a well-meaning socialist to a right-wing troll in a short span. The Succession actress does command a significant following online and is often a part of social media discussions, especially on X.

Nekrasova’s rise to prominence began in 2018 when her interview with an Infowars reporter went viral. She earned the moniker “Sailor Socialism” for supporting Bernie Sanders in the interview while donning a sailor fuku outfit, popularized by Sailor Moon. At the time, she was promoting her feature film debut Wobble Palace, following which she started Red Scare with Khachiyan.

Since then, Dasha Nekrasova has appeared in a variety of TV shows and films, like Mr. Robot, The Serpent, Succession, and Leá Seydoux and George MacKay starrer sci-fi romantic drama The Beast. She will be next in Celine Song’s highly anticipated project Materialists, which also stars Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, Chris Evans, and Louisa Jacobson.