Comedian says she coined “girlbossed too close to the sun.” Now it’s in a Taylor Swift song

A TikTok creator says she’s the one who coined the viral phrase “girlbossed too close to the sun”…and now she’s hearing it in a Taylor Swift song.

Comedian Caroline Timoney jokes after hearing her viral phrase in Taylor Swift’s new song

The video was posted to TikTok on Oct. 4, 2025, and quickly amassed more than 2.6 million views.

“I wanna make this quick,” Timoney began. “I woke up this morning to discover that my TikTok audio that I made as a sophomore in college, ‘I girlbossed too close to the sun’, was in a Taylor Swift song,” she explained.

“Am I her Shakespeare? Yes,” she said lightheartedly, before going on to crack a few jokes. “I haven’t changed, I’ve forgotten a few names of friends and family, cos I’m blowing up.”

“I’m genuinely so shocked,” she concluded earnestly.

@carol.ine3
Wow
♬ original sound – Caroline Timoney

Commenters were polarized in their reactions.

“I’m not exaggerating, get a lawyer and get writing credits. She got writing credits from Olivia Rodrigo for way less,” wrote Chiomy.

“She would sue you to the moon and back if the roles were reversed. Do your thing,” said someone else, while other users agreed “SUE THAT BILLIONAIRE.”

Others brought up similar examples of creators being paid by artists who used their internet terms in their music.

“Lizzo gave writing credits to the woman who tweeted ‘just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100% that bitch’. Get your bag girl”, said Jess. S.

Not everyone was convinced, though, with some questioning how ownership of commonly used slang terms, especially those created online, actually worked.

“Did you register the phrase as yours? Genuinely curious because this has become just a slang phrase,” wrote Samantha.

What is Taylor’s version, and how close is it to the original?

Taylor Swift recently used the phrase in the song “CANCELLED” from her new album Life of a Showgirl, which was released on Oct. 3, 2025, to a less-than-stellar reception.

“Did you girlboss too close to the sun? Did they catch you having far too much fun?” Swift sings on the pre-chorus. Her choice of lyrics was itself subject to scrutiny, with some critics scathing her use of years-old internet slang as “out of touch.”

“She abandons the thing that made her music compelling in the first place and replaces it with something that would only appeal to her (admittedly abundant) die-hard fans that clap and cheer at a line like “Did you girlboss too close to the sun?” wrote one reviewer in a now viral piece for The Alternative.

Lyrical opinions aside, the original video where Timoney first allegedly created the term is pinned to the top of her TikTok profile—for those curious to compare the two.

@carol.ine3 ♬ original sound – Caroline Timoney

“Listen, I can’t give any more information. But I fear I may have girlbossed a bit too close to the sun,” the comedian joked to the camera, in the clip posted Aug. 23, 2021.

The video received 7.5 million views, and the original audio of the sound was used on over 24,000 videos.

Naturally, some commenters returned post-drama to share their thoughts.

“GET PAID BABE,” said KB while goop called back to Timoney’s latest vid, calling her, “our modern day Shakespeare.”

Boughjaenah questioned “that’s it???”, while someone else added, “Yeah…it’s a commonly used phrase?! It’s not that deep I fear.”

Luckily, Timoney doesn’t seem to think it’s that deep either, telling People that she is, “such a Swiftie and it was so exciting and utterly shocking to see that she used ‘Girlbossed too close to the sun!’”

“It was so cool that one of the first jokes I wrote when I was starting out comedy as a sophomore in college took on such a life of its own!” she said.

The original girlboss Sophia Amoruso weighs in

The original creator of the term ‘Girlboss’, Sophia Amoruso, also shared her thoughts on the concept of girlbossing too close to the sun, as well as Taylor’s choice to reference this, and what this means about where we’re at, pop-culture-wise, in 2025.

@sophiaamoruso That is all #taylorswift #cancelled #lifeofashowgirl #girlboss ♬ original sound – sophia amoruso

Amoruso, who wrote the New York Times bestseller Girlboss in 2014, told TikTok:

“It was something that inspired a generation, became shorthand for ambition, and then culture did what it does and took it down. It became that we ‘girlbossed too close to the sun’, it went from ‘empower her’ to ‘she’s too much,’ in about five minutes” she explained.

She then went on to explain that culture rewards female ambition, mocks it, and then reclaims it when it feels safe again. Amoruso believes the term is more relevant than ever before.

“Honestly it’s kind of cool to see it come full circle,” she said. “I hate pop culture, but maybe I’m a Swiftie now.”