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The song spawned what many fans consider to be the biggest mystery in the rock era. There has been much debate over who exactly the song was about. Popular guesses as the subject include Mick Jagger (who sang backing vocals on the song), Cat Stevens, Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, and Simon's ex-husband, James Taylor.
Despite these guesses and many interviews asking who it was, to this day Carly Simon has never publicly acknowledged who the song is about, although she once commented in an interview that it was about "many vain men I've known in my life". This would certainly make the line "you're so vain: I bet you think this song is about you" more logically coherent than if it were about any single man.
Dick Ebersol, president of NBC Sports and a friend of Simon's, won a charity auction in which the prize was the revelation of the person whom "You're So Vain" was about. A consequence of that prize is that Ebersol would not reveal to anyone the actual subject. The debate goes on.The chorus was paraphrased in the Nine Inch Nails song "Starfuckers, Inc."