“Drivers License” Almost Killed Joshua Bassett

The rumors were endless that OLIVIA RODRIGO’s “Drivers License” was about her breakup with JOSHUA BASSETT.  So much so that although their relationship was never actually confirmed, when the song came out, the Internet turned on him.

olivia rodrigo at the AMAs
(Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

The hate was so intense that he ended up in the hospital with heart failure.  He says, “Every day I felt worse and worse.  I was sleeping 16 to 20 hours a day.  I couldn’t even stand up for longer than 30 seconds.

“I felt my heart literally failing.  I was like, ‘This isn’t just anxiety.  This is bad.'”  He finally went to the hospital, where doctors told him he was 12 hours from DEATH. 

Even when he healed physically, he still dealt with depression, stress and frequent panic attacks.

But therapy, yoga, and meditation are helping him cope.  He says, “In this last year a lot of my biggest fears came true.  But in that, I found that I’ll always be OK, if not better off.”