Robbie Williams' daughter claims he's 'clout chasing' after Olivia Rodrigo is accused of copying his song

Robbie Williams, 52, has revealed what his daughter made of his public support for Olivia Rodrigo in the wake of plagiarism claims around her latest song.

In an Instagram post, the singer shared a transcript of an exchange with his daughter, Teddy, in which he asked her what he was doing.

Her answer, he wrote suggested that Rodrigo has all the clout and he's in desperate need of some.

"My own daughter. My firstborn. The child I have loved, nurtured, clothed, fed, and spent fourteen years trying to impress," Williams wrote.

"Has just accused me of CLOUT CHASING."

He said he has not realized he had slipped so far down the 'cultural food chain' that he now had to attach himself to a younger, more successful artist in the hope of picking up some relevance.

"I wasn't aware that was where we were. I thought we were colleagues."

He described the Instagram post that had gone up beforehand as 'warm, generous and entirely sincere', and added that, going by his daughter's assessment of his standing in the music industry, it was 'probably the most successful piece of clout chasing I've done in years'.

The exchange follows days of online debate over Rodrigo's first Christmas single. Fans compared Take Me Home (4 Christmas) with Williams' 2012 hit Candy, and one user on X asked: "Why does Olivia Rodrigo's new Christmas song sound like Candy by Robbie Williams?"

Others heard an echo of Christmas Wrapping, The Waitresses' 1981 festive track.

Chris Butler, who wrote the song said on facebook that he had received an unexpected email about two months earlier from someone claiming to be Rodrigo, which he first assumed was a prank.

Despite not knowing her work beforehand, Butler wrote that he quickly became a fan. "I like your music. I like that you have women in your band. I like that your lyrics are intense, real, and poetic," he said, adding that the song would be 'a smash'.

Williams addressed the debate at length in a four-page Instagram statement. He said he would not 'go after' Rodrigo, adding that he is at a point in his career where he can 'afford' to take that view.

"It sounds to me as though she may have accidentally stumbled across a musical echo of mine in one of her new songs," he said. "And do you know what? I couldn't care less."

He also said he loves Rodrigo and wishes he had made her song Brutal, warning: "If we keep punishing people for accidentally arriving somewhere somebody else has already been, eventually we're going to frighten the creativity out of everyone."

He signed off by addressing her directly.

"Olivia, if you're reading this, I think you're brilliant. But please stop swearing so much. It makes me feel like I have to keep up."

Williams ended his post to Teddy with a reminder of his own: "Just for the record, Teddy, I'm about to play to 50,000 people in a stadium in Melbourne. I appreciate this means absolutely nothing to you." He signed it "Love you, Dad."

UNILAD has contacted representatives for Williams and Olivia Rodrigo for comment.