A common rumor about the song is that it was written about Morissette's one-time boyfriend
<font color="#002bb8">Dave Coulier</font> of the television sitcom
<font color="#002bb8">Full House</font>. According to an
<font color="#002bb8">ABC News</font> web article, "ex-girlfriend Alanis Morissette revealed that her angst-ridden hit 'You Oughta Know' was about her relationship with Coulier".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0">
<font color="#002bb8"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></font> The
<font color="#002bb8">Urban Legends Reference Pages</font> has this rumor as undecided.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Snopes_1-0">
<font color="#002bb8"><span>[</span>2<span>]</span></font></p>
There are many other celebrities who have been rumored to be the lover in the song, including:</p>
The topic of the song is discussed in an episode of
<font color="#002bb8">Curb Your Enthusiasm</font>. Morissette told star
<font color="#002bb8">Larry David</font> whom the song is about (then David to a disappointed friend), but the audience never hears who Morissette said the song was about. In one of the
<font color="#002bb8">Jay and Silent Bob</font> promos created for
<font color="#002bb8">MTV</font>, Jay told Silent Bob that he was the boyfriend that inspired the song. Jay told the story of the break-up, and after he finished Silent Bob wiped a tear from his eye while Jay laughed at him confessing to have been lying the whole time. Morissette appeared with the two as God in the 1999 film
<font color="#002bb8">Dogma</font> and again in 2001's
<font color="#002bb8">Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back</font>.</p>
On an
<font color="#002bb8">Al TV</font> special
<font color="#002bb8">"Weird Al" Yankovic</font> joked that he and Morissette "used to date. I especially liked it when we went to the movies", a reference to the song's lyric about the singer performing
<font color="#002bb8">oral sex</font> in a theater. Yankovic also included the song in his polka medley "The Alternative Polka", on his 1996 album
<font color="#002bb8">Bad Hair Day</font>.</p>
The mystery surrounding the song brought comparison to
<font color="#002bb8">Carly Simon</font>'s "
<font color="#002bb8">You're So Vain</font>".</p>
In October of 2008, Morissette reiterated her refusal to identify the subject, commenting to a CanWest News Service journalist, "Well, I've never talked about who my songs were about and I won't, because when I write them they're written for the sake of personal expression. So with all due respect to whoever may see themselves in my songs, and it happens all the time, I never really comment on it because I write these songs for myself, not other people."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2">
<font color="#002bb8"><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></font></p>
In 2008 Coulier stated that he believes that the song was about him.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3">
<font color="#002bb8"><span>[</span>4<span>]</span></font></p>
