End of an era or the start of a new one? The internet is wondering why Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn broke up. The news came as a shock to a lot of Swifties and non-Swifties alike while she’s on her Eras tour, so let’s dig deeper into their six-long relationship.
Entertainment Tonight broke the news on Saturday, April 8, 2023. The two were very private about their relationship, but Joe frequently contributed to Taylor’s albums by being the muse or co-writing her songs with her from Reputation all the way to her recent album Midnights.
According to ET, the relationship “had run its course.” A source told the site that the breakup “was not dramatic.” and “it’s why [Joe] hasn’t been spotted at any shows.”
A source told gossip Instagram Deux Moi on the Tuesday before the news broke, “They broke up a few weeks ago, that’s why he hasn’t been at shows and you won’t see him at any. They weren’t married either so you won’t see him at any. They weren’t married either so you won’t see a divorce. It wasn’t dramatic it just ran its course and she’s clearly in a good place with it.” Eagle-eyed Swifties who love their Easter eggs also noticed that Taylor swapped out a song on her setlist “Invisible String” with “The 1” which points to further proof of the breakup. “You think you can just scroll the setlist? You think you can just come prepared?” Taylor said after her first performance of the song in Texas. “Let it be said about the Eras Tour … there’s high jinks.” The two have yet to comment on the breakup.
Other sources told People that the two simply outgrew each other. “They’ve had rough patches before and always worked things out, so friends thought they would take some time apart but eventually come back together,” one source said noting that they “weren’t the right fit for one another.”
“They had plenty in common and fell in love in a safe bubble while she was retreating from the world during Reputation,” the source added. “Then the pandemic hit, and they were locked down together and able to continue growing their relationship in this insulated way. But he didn’t really ‘know’ her yet outside of that bubble.” The source continued, “Joe has struggled with Taylor’s level of fame and the attention from the public. The differences in their personalities have also become harder to ignore after years together. They’ve grown apart.”
The source also said that the singer and actor were “talking about marriage as recently as a few months ago.” “Taylor didn’t see them working out in the long run,” says the insider, who adds that the split happened “recently” and was “not dramatic.” Page Six confirmed that the two never married despite speculation. They also confirm that Taylor is “100% single.”
Another source echoed the same sentiment to UsWeekly. “Fame factored into their split. Joe is very shy and never liked all of the attention that came with dating one of the most popular singers in the world,” the insider said and also added that Taylor isn’t “at fault.” They also added, “He just didn’t like having to be on all of the time” The two are also not on bad terms. “They are friendly. She doesn’t have anything bad to say about Joe,” adds the People insider. “They just grew apart. Taylor is staying very focused on her tour right now.”
Though a source told The Daily Mail that Joe was pretty devastated when he found out that Taylor was seeing Matty Healy from the British rock band The 1975. “Joe feels slighted and is distraught after seeing her budding relationship with Matt, but is doing his best to keep busy and focus on himself,” said the source. “Joe was aware that Taylor and Matt were making music together and collaborating. She told him that they had become friends and he trusted her.” Taylor’s romance with Matty was short-lived as it was reported that they broke up only after a month of seeing each other.
In her 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department, released on April 19, 2024, Taylor hinted at the reason herself. Fans dissected the “Fortnight Lyrics” and what they could mean. First off, the word “fortnight” is a word commonly used in British English—it means two weeks. The use of British English is interesting because, as we all know, her most serious relationship was with English actor Joe Alwyn; they dated for 6 years and broke up in 2023.
Some fans have speculated that this song is in reference to the two-week period where Taylor and Joe’s relationship began to disintegrate. Or perhaps it’s about Taylor imagining what their life would be like if they’d stayed together and how mundane their existence would be because he wanted a life out of the spotlight.
When did Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn meet?
The two sparked dating rumors in October 2016 when they both attended a Kings of Leon concert. A month later, the Lover singer was seen attending the premiere of Alwyn’s movie, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. News broke of their relationship in May 2017. In an interview with Esquire in 2018, Joe revealed if he sought advice about dating a celebrity. “I didn’t seek out advice on that,” he said. “Because I know what I feel about it. I think there’s a very clear line as to what somebody should share, or feel like they have to share, and what they don’t want to and shouldn’t have to.”
The two were avoidant of answering questions about their relationships. When talking about their own privacy, Joe said in an interview with WSJ Magazine, “We live in a culture that people expect so much to be given. So that if you’re not posting all the time about what you’re doing, how you’re spending a day or how you made a breakfast, does that make you a recluse?” He also denied engagement rumors, “If I had a pound for every time I think I’ve been told I’ve been engaged, then I’d have a lot of pound coins,” The Favourite star said. “I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn’t say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn’t say.”
Joe has co-wrote a few songs on Swift’s 2020 album Folklore, is believed to have inspired several of Swift’s tracks, including “Gorgeous,” “Call It What You Want” and “Cardigan.” As one of EW’s 2020 Entertainers of the Year, Taylor opened up to the publication about the making of the album which fans now know included her boyfriend as a collaborator on the song, “Betty.” Speaking about her experience of making the album in quarantine, Taylor explained, “It was weird because I had never made an album and not played it for my girlfriends or told my friends. The only people who knew were the people that I was making it with, my boyfriend, my family, and then my management team.” She added, “So that’s the smallest number of people I’ve ever had know about something. I’m usually playing it for everyone that I’m friends with. So I had a lot of friends texting me things like, ‘Why didn’t you say on our everyday Facetimes you were making a record?’”
In her latest release Midnights, she explicitly said that the track “Lavender Haze” was inspired by their relationship. In an Instagram video explaining the track, Taylor said, “I happened upon the phrase ‘Lavender Haze’ when I was watching Mad Men and I looked it up because it sounded cool and it turns out it was a phrase in the 50s where they would just describe being in love. If you were in the lavender haze, then that meant that you were in that all-encompassing love glow.” She continued, “I thought that was really beautiful. I guess theoretically when you’re in the lavender haze, you’ll do anything to stay there and not let people bring you down off of that cloud. I think a lot of people have to deal with this now, not just like ‘public figures,’ because we live in the era of social media and if the world finds out that you’re in love with somebody, they’re going to weigh in on it. My relationship for six years, we’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it. So this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”
How did fans react to Taylor Swift & Joe Alwyn’s breakup?
Swifties online had quite the reaction to their breakup. “there is no way taylor swift would break up with mr. dress, delicate, call It what you want, king of my heart, gorgeous, london boy, lover, paper rings, peace, willow, invisible string, gold rush, lavender haze 🥹🫶🏼 not when a whole LOVER album literally exist???” one fan tweeted.
Other fans will still hold on to hope for their relationship. A fan tweeted, “and when taylorswift posts a picture with joe alwyn and the caption being ‘Ain’t it funny? Rumors fly… oh and by the way, 1989 (taylor’s version) is out now!’”
Meanwhile, Taylor was also spotted filming another music video in Joe’s home country of England with actress Joey King. “Taylor loves the history of the landmarks and was excited to film somewhere completely different and unexpected,” a source told The Sun. “She had a break in her touring schedule so decided to use the time to get another video in the bag. She’s feeling more creative and inspired than ever.”
Is Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department about Joe Alwyn?
Taylor Swift announced her new album The Tortured Poets Department on February 4, 2023, during the 66th Grammy Awards when she won best Pop Vocal Album. Fans immediately noticed the connection with Joe Alwyn as he revealed in a Variety interview that he has a WhatsApp group chat with Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal called “The Tortured Man Club.”
The tracklist came out the day after and included songs like “So Long, London” which fans immediately connected the dots to Joe, who hails from London. Other songs include “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys,” “But Daddy I Love Him,” “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” “loml,” “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”—and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”
Fans quickly took to social media to react to the tracklist, “if joe alwyn has 100 fans, im not one of them, if joe alwyn has 10 projects, im not watching them, if joe alwyn has 0 haters, i deactivated,” one fan posted.
“joe alwyn and paul mescal in their gc rn,” one fan tweeted, paired with a video of Alexa Demie’s character Euphoria‘s , asking, “Is this f–king play about us?”
As for how Joe felt, he reportedly didn’t feel too good. “Joe has not said one word about Taylor or their breakup and has been completely respectful of her,’ an source close to Joe said to the Daily Mail. “It’s undeniable that the name of her upcoming album is in reference to Joe’s WhatsApp group chat. Taylor knocked him for the name of this when they were together. She didn’t want people to think that it had anything to do with her, so when he spoke out about it, she was, of course, bothered.’
The insider continued, “Joe has no reason to believe yet that she is going to diss him or their relationship. She writes about her past using code and points of reference. It may just be that she is reflecting on their time together and he is hoping it is nothing more. If it is a diss album, that is shady. He helped her with song writing on her past album so it will really come as a shock to him if she talks about their breakup, as it is something he has not spoken of at all.”
As for Taylor’s new boyfriend, Travis Kelce, he thinks the album is a masterpiece. “I have heard some of it, yes. And it is unbelievable,” Kelce told reporters during a Super Bowl press conference. “I can’t wait for her to shake up the world when it finally drops.”
The Venice Film Festival has begun—get ready for 11 days of some of the best red carpet fashion of the year. WireImage
While last year’s Venice Film Festival was a quieter, more subdued occasion than usual due to the SAG-AFTRA and WAG strikes, the 2024 iteration is expected to bring the usual array of A-list filmmakers and celebrities to the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido for a week and a half of premieres, screenings and parties.
Isabelle Huppert is the 2024 jury president, and this year’s cinematic line-up is packed with some of the most anticipated movies of the year. Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival, as is Luca Guadagnino’s Queer (with Daniel Craig and Jason Schwartzman), Pablo Larrain’s Maria (starring Angelina Jolie) and Halina Reijn’s Babygirl (Nicole Kidman), among many others. Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, screened out of competition, will open the festival.
Along with plenty of must-see films, the stars also bring their sartorial best for the glamorous film festival in Venice, Italy, strutting down the red carpet in fashionable designs—this is, after all, the very event that brought us couture moments like Florence Pugh’s dazzling black glitter Valentino ensemble at the Don’t Worry Darling premiere, along with Zendaya’s custom leather Balmain dress in 2021 and Dakota Johnson in bejeweled Gucci.
The 81st annual Venice International Film Festival kicks off on August 28 and runs through September 7, which means a whole lot of high-fashion moments are headed for Lido. Below, see the best red carpet fashion from the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” returning for its second season and Adam Sandler’s first comedy special since 2018 are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: John Legend offers his first-ever children’s album, season four of “Only Murders in the Building” shifts to Los Angeles and DJ and dance producer Zedd is back with an album after nearly a decade.
NEW MOVIES TO STREAM
— “The Fall Guy” is finally coming to Peacock, where it will be streaming starting Friday, Aug. 30, alongside an “extended cut” version. It might not have reached the blockbuster heights the studio dreamed about during its theatrical run, but it’s pure delight: A comedy, action, romance that soars thanks to the charisma of its stars. Based on the 1980s Lee Majors television series (he gets a cameo), the film features Ryan Gosling as a stunt man, Emily Blunt as his director and dream girl, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as an egotistical movie star and “Ted Lasso’s” Hannah Waddingham as a Diet Coke slurping producer.
— Ishana Night Shyamalan’s thriller, “The Watchers,” in which Dakota Fanning plays an artist stranded in western Ireland where mysterious creatures lurk and stalk in the night, begins streaming on MAX on Friday, Aug. 30.
— Emma Stone gives a performance (and interpretive dance) worth watching in “ Kinds of Kindness,” her latest collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos fresh on the heels of her Oscar-winning turn in “Poor Things.” The film, streaming on Hulu on Friday, Aug. 30, is a triptych with a big ensemble cast including Willem Dafoe, Jesse Plemons (who won a prize for his performance at Cannes), Hong Chau, Margaret Qualley, Mamoudou Athie and Joe Alwyn. Jocelyn Noveck, in her Associated Press review, described it as “a meditation on our free will and the ways we willingly forfeit it to others — in the workplace, at home, and in religion.” Noveck wrote that the “Stone-Lanthimos pairing… is continuing to nurture an aspect of Stone’s talents that increasingly sets her apart: Her fearlessness and the obvious joy she derives from it.”
— Somehow the Yorgos Lanthimos film is not the most eccentric new streaming offering this week. That title goes to “ Sasquatch Sunset,” Nathan and David Zellner’s experimental film about a family of sasquatches just living their lives. Starring an essentially unrecognizable Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough (in addition to Nathan Zellner), this Sundance curiosity begins streaming on Paramount+ on Monday. In his review for the AP, Mark Kennedy wrote that it is “a bewildering 90-minute, narrator-less and wordless experiment that’s as audacious as it is infuriating. It’s not clear if everyone was high making it or we should be while watching it.”
— DJ and dance producer Zedd is back with an album after nearly a decade, “Telos.” The first single is the appropriately titled “Out of Time” featuring Bea Miller, a dreamy tune with atmospheric strings that builds into a dancefloor banger. Zedd has revealed that he started writing “Out Of Time” way back in 2015 but was never able to finish it. That changed with Bea — “her voice added an emotional depth that completed the song. ‘Out Of Time’ really encapsulates the DNA of the Telos album, which is why I chose it to be the song that introduces this new era,” he says.
— If you’re into a slower change of pace, check out John Legend, who releases his first children’s album, “My Favorite Dream,” on Friday, Aug. 30. It’s produced by the chamber pop polymath Sufjan Stevens and centers on universal themes like love, safety, family and dreams across nine original tracks, two covers, a solo piano track and three bonus covers of Fisher-Price songs.
— Get ready for a blast of K-pop — on your television. Apple TV+ has the six part documentary “K-Pop Idols,” a behind-the-scenes look at the highly competitive reality of K-pop stardom, starting Friday, Aug. 30. It features Jessi, CRAVITY and BLACKSWAN as they learn choreography and pull everything together to seize the stage. Producers say the series “follows the superstars through trials and triumphs, breaking down cultural and musical barriers in K-pop with passion, creativity and determination as they chase their dreams.”
— RZA takes a sharp turn as a classical composer with the album “A Ballet Through Mud.” The composition made its debut in the form of a ballet last year, performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Composed and scored by the Wu-Tang Clan star, the piece mirrors his journey from growing up in the projects in New York City to famous artist, “weaving in tales of love, loss, exploration, Buddhist monks, and a journey ‘through mud.‘” RZA says he began the project early in the pandemic after rediscovering notebooks full of lyrics he had written as a teenager. “The inspiration for ‘A Ballet Through Mud’ comes from my earliest creative output as a teenager, but its themes are universal — love, exploration, and adventure,” he says.
— Adam Sandler has the feels in his new Netflix special “Adam Sandler: Love You” featuring his standup and trademark comedy songs. It’s directed by Josh Safdie who — with his brother Benny — co-directed Sandler in the 2019 movie “Uncut Gems.” “Love You” is Sandler’s first comedy special since 2018. It premieres Tuesday on Netflix.
— Charles, Oliver and Mabel (Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez) head to Los Angeles in season four of “Only Murders in the Building,” because their podcast is being turned into a film. Their Hollywood life is interrupted when another murder occurs, meaning the trio has a new case to cover. Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis and Eva Longoria join the cast. “Only Murders in the Building” premieres Tuesday on Hulu.
— A new animated series in the “Terminator” universe comes to Netflix on Thursday. It follows new characters voiced by “House of the Dragon” actor Sonoya Mizuno, Timothy Olyphant, André Holland Rosario Dawson and Ann Dowd.
— Luke Skywalker may get the headlines, but the true MVPs of the Star Wars franchise are rascals like Han Solo and Lando Calrissian. Ubisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws introduces a new scoundrel: Kay Vess, a young thief who’s trying to work her way up the galaxy’s crime syndicates and make the big score. She isn’t a Jedi or a Sith, but she knows how to fire a blaster and fly a spaceship. Outlaws comes from Massive Entertainment, the developers of Tom Clancy’s The Division, and it aims to spread Ubisoft’s brand of open-world adventure across multiple planets. It launches Friday, Aug. 30, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.
— Many gamers who grew up with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System remember 1993’s Secret of Mana as their introduction to a particular type of high-fantasy role-playing. It’s been 15 years since we’ve gotten a new chapter in the marquee Mana series, but Square Enix is finally delivering Visions of Mana. A youngster named Val is chosen to accompany his friend Hinna on a pilgrimage to the life-sustaining Mana Tree, and they’ll need to use magic and swordplay to fight all the monsters along the way. The lush, anime-style graphics are bound to stir memories in old-school RPG fans, starting Thursday, Aug. 29, on PlayStation 5/4, Xbox X/S and PC.
For those who only just got acquainted with Yorgos Lanthimos because of his star turn at the Academy Awards this year for Poor Things, it would come as no surprise that viewers hoping for “more of the same” might be disappointed by his quick follow-up, Kinds of Kindness. While, sure, both movies are in keeping with Lanthimos’ penchant for “quirky” (a reductive term if ever there was one in terms of describing anything that is “weird”—also usually a reductive term) narratives starring Emma Stone, Kinds of Kindness is distinctly begat of the auteur’s mind. This being in contrast to Poor Things, which was an adaptation of someone else’s work—specifically, Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel of the same name. Presented even more overtly as “a Frankenstein story” in Lanthimos’ hands (though, as some pointed out, it was more like the plot of Frankenhooker, released in 1990), audiences were more easily charmed by this kind of “quirk,” paired with Stone’s rendering of Bella Baxter. Put it this way: Poor Things is the most “Tim Burton” Lanthimos has ever allowed himself to get.
In truth, Lanthimos’ “return to himself” with Kinds of Kindness seems in part designed to remind people not to get too used to the linear, “easy-to-pinpoint message” of Poor Things. So it is that the film commences with the first story in the “triptych,” where we’re introduced to the unifying thread of each story: R.M.F. (indeed, that was one of the original titles of the movie, apart from the more abstract And). A man who is never given a clear backstory, yet whose shirt and initials will serve as a consistent talisman. In fact, it is R.M.F. (Yorgos Stefanakos) who we first see enter the scene via car while blasting the Eurythmics’ signature 1983 track, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” (a song that will also serve as another consistent thread in each story). So begins “Vignette #1,” if you will, titled “The Death of R.M.F.” When R.M.F. knocks on the door of the lavish house he’s arrived at, Vivian (Margaret Qualley) answers the door in a silk robe that’s cut as short as it can be without her ass showing (and, in truth, if Qualley had an ass, it would definitely peek out of a robe like that). She takes one look at the shirt he’s wearing, with his initials monogrammed on the breast pocket and tells her husband, Raymond (Willem Dafoe), over the phone exactly what R.M.F. is wearing, including the assurance that his shirt doesn’t look wrinkled. Even so, she still sends a picture of the shirt to prove it (an initial glimpse into Raymond’s fastidious nature).
R.M.F., we’ll soon find, is the man that Raymond’s emotional whipping boy, Robert (Jesse Plemons), has been tasked with crashing his car into. And why? Simply because Raymond wants him to. Indeed, this particular segment comes across as an allegory for the average employer-employee relationship, with the employer demanding to have total and unbridled control over the person they “own.” For the past ten years, Robert has been only too willing to do whatever Raymond has asked of him—from marrying Sarah (Hong Chau), the woman Raymond “picked out” at the Cheval Bar (where they’re regulars) to lacing her coffee with mifepristone because Raymond doesn’t want Robert to have children (that could be very distracting from work, after all). Thus, the toxicity masquerading as “love” (mainly for all the material things that Raymond provides him with in exchange for Robert’s total lack of autonomy) shines through at its most unignorable when Raymond makes this request. The request for Robert to crash into R.M.F. Of course, Robert has no idea who R.M.F. is, he’s merely told that the man is willing to die (if the crash should happen to be too impactful) for this bizarre exercise in fealty.
One might say that the entire running motif of Kinds of Kindness is, in fact, fealty. And the lengths that people are willing to go in order to prove it to a toxic “alpha” in the situation. This much is also true in the next “vignette,” “R.M.F. Is Flying” (perhaps an allusion to his limbo state after finally being run over multiple times by Robert in response to Raymond cutting him off cold turkey from his “love”). In this setup, Plemons is now Daniel, a police officer reeling over the recent disappearance of his wife, Liz (Stone), who is some kind of marine biologist lost at sea. Her miraculous return with her fellow researcher, Jonathan (Ja’Quan Monroe-Henderson), is met with joy and relief by their friends, Neil (Mamoudou Athie) and Martha (Qualley), and Liz’s father, George (Dafoe). However, it is less comforting to Daniel when he starts to suspect that the woman who has returned is not his wife at all. Mainly because it’s “little details” about her that aren’t tracking with the “original” Liz. For a start, this Liz is perfectly okay to eat chocolate, a sweet she hated before, and, secondly, because her feet are suddenly slightly too big for all her shoes. When Daniel tells his theory to Sharon (Chau), Jonathan’s wife, she can only stare back at him in disbelief.
Despite no one believing him, Daniel’s conviction that his wife isn’t really his wife only intensifies, causing him to have an “episode” on the job that leads to his suspension from the force. Still convinced that Liz is someone else, he proceeds to test how devoted she is to him, demanding that she cook her own thumb for him to prove her love (side note: he’s been on a hunger strike against anything she makes for him). When she actually does, he not only says her thumb is disgusting and he would never eat it, but he also then ups the ante by requesting that she cook her own liver for him (talk about a Hannibal Lecter-esque sweet fantasy, or “sweet dream,” to be more Eurythmics-centric). At the end of this petite histoire, the real Liz does show up once Fake Liz ends up killing herself with a self-extraction of the liver to prove her love. What’s the additional message here? Perhaps that “real” love isn’t always that selfless. Otherwise it can get pretty tainted pretty fast.
And, speaking of “tainted,” that’s what the final “vignette,” “R.M.F. Eats A Sandwich,” is all about. Namely with regard to (sex) cult leaders Omi (Dafoe) and Aka (Chau) insisting on their subjects’ “purity” if they are to be accepted into the, er, fold for fucking. Whenever Omi or Aka hears that one of their “subjects” has broken the bonds of “loyalty” to the cult (which is somewhat ironic considering they’re all fucking multiple people…but hey, so long as it’s within the cult, it’s fine), they have their ways of testing for compromised “purity” (a.k.a. STDs).
Emily (Stone), a recent convert to the “cause,” seems overly eager to prove herself and her, again, fealty, to Omi and Aka by seeking out a healer that can supposedly reanimate the dead. Which is why the story begins with measuring and weighing the latest “potential” healer, Anna (Hunter Schafer), like she’s a piece of meat. Joining Emily in that task is Andrew (Plemons), a fellow cult member that’s been “assigned” to Emily, as it were, by Omi and Aka. When they try to get Anna to deliver on the final (and most important) test—reviving the dead—she fails…much to Emily’s (in particular) dismay.
After the disappointment, Andrew and Emily get into her vibrant purple Dodge Challenger and continue on their way, talking to Aka over the phone about whether or not they have enough water for the journey. This rather precise question sets up one of the cruxes of the storyline, which is that, in order to be “pure,” the cult members must only drink water that has been “crafted” out of Omi and Aka’s tears. Ergo, they’re given thermoses filled with this “special” kind of water (a kind of kindness, duh) whenever they hit the road on one of their quests to find the healer. Of course, they’re not flying totally blind. There are certain known criteria about the healer they’re looking for: she’s a woman, she’s a twin, she’s a twin whose other twin died and she has a specific age, height and weight.
As for Emily’s “former” life before becoming a cultist, she was a mother and a wife to Joseph, portrayed by Joe Alwyn, who takes the chance on playing a role where he “has to” rape in a climate that already has him in “villain mode” thanks to his breakup with Taylor Swift (who, yes, will probably uncomfortably watch this movie and scene since Emma Stone is in her “squad,” as is Jack Antonoff’s wife, Margaret Qualley). Occasionally pulled back to that “old life” of hers out of a sense of, let’s say, wifely and maternal duty, Joseph ends up getting her cast out of the cult when he date rapes her, and Omi, Aka and Andrew immediately find out when they catch her coming out of the house the following morning.
In the wake of her “affront” to their “cause” (like all cult leaders, that cause is ultimately self-aggrandizement), they drag her to their outdoor “steam room.” A “hot box” is more like it—and one that looks like something out of Midsommar. Cranking the heat up as high as possible to “purify” her, when she is taken out of the box and placed on a perch for Aka to lick sweat off her stomach and see if she’s still “contaminated,” the result is not in Emily’s favor. Shunned from the cult, Emily determines to prove her commitment by finding the healer, once and for all. A quest that, predictably, results in catastrophic circumstances.
As Kind of Kindness concludes with a mid-credits scene where we finally do see R.M.F. eating that sandwich, the viewer is left to reconcile the idea that maybe blind loyalty is more pathetic than it is noble (see: Republicans and Trump). Something that shouldn’t have to be spelled out for people at this juncture, but, sadly, still needs to be. As a matter of fact, many will likely not get that message because Kinds of Kindness doesn’t spell it out enough for the average feeble mind. And, maybe, in his own meta way, Lanthimos is actually testing the loyalty of his “true” devotees with this film.
Over a year after their split, we’re finally hearing Joe Alwyn’s Taylor Swift breakup response. In a new interview with The Sunday Times, the actor addressed their split along with Swift’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, which many fans believe is about their breakup.
When asked if he’s listened to Swift’s album, Alwyn replied, “In thinking on what I was going to say, I would think and hope that anyone and everyone can empathize…This isn’t a direct answer to your question, but just thinking about what I want to talk about. I would hope that anyone and everyone can empathize and understand the difficulties that come with the end of a long, loving, fully committed relationship of over six and a half years.”
He continued, “That is a hard thing to navigate. What is unusual and abnormal in this situation is that, one week later, it’s suddenly in the public domain and the outside world is able to weigh in.”
“So you have something very real suddenly thrown into a very unreal space: tabloids, social media, press, where it is then dissected, speculated on, pulled out of shape beyond recognition,” Alwyn added. “And the truth is, to that last point, there is always going to be a gap between what is known and what is said. I have made my peace with that.”
Swift and Alwyn reportedly met at the 2016 Met Gala and confirmed their relationship in late 2017, but they kept things low-key with minimal public appearances and social media posts. Alwyn supported Swift’s music career throughout their time together, even contributing to her albums under the pseudonym William Bowery, co-writing songs like “Exile,” “Betty,” and “Champagne Problems.”
Despite fielding engagement rumors for years, the couple chose to keep their romance private . “If I had a pound for every time I think I’ve been told I’ve been engaged, then I’d have a lot of pound coins,” Alwyn told WSJ. Magazine in April 2022. “I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn’t say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn’t say,” he added.
In early 2023, Swift and Alwyn ultimately decided to go their separate ways, with sources suggesting they “weren’t the right fit for one another.” Since then, Swift started dating Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce.
Meanwhile, Alwyn is still keeping things private when it comes to his love life. In his interview with the Sunday Times, the actor was cagey when it came to sharing his dating status: “I’m sure you can appreciate, given the level of noise and scrutiny about my past relationship, why I wouldn’t want to just open the door to things like that right now,” he explained. Nevertheless, he insisted he’s doing “really good” overall. As long as everyone’s happy, right?
If one accepts as truth that much of Taylor Swift’s newest album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, deals with her six-year relationship with English actor Joe Alwyn, his absence from the spotlight seems understandable: the record describes toxic exchanges and painful breakups, with a cast of adult male babies that puts Animal House to shame. But with a prominent role in Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos’s new film, Kinds of Kindness, Alwyn has no choice but to step back into view. And unlike some luminaries who will only agree to interviews with strict topical guidelines, it appears that questions about Taylor Swift remain within limits.
At least they were for an interview with The Sunday Timespublished today, in which for the first time ever, Alwyn spoke publicly about his breakup with the billionaire singer.
Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn arrive at Zuma on October 06, 2019 in New York City.
Jackson Lee
If the Swift song “Dress” is considered a reliable historical document, it appears the couple first met at the 2016 Met Gala. Swift was there because she’s Swift; Alwyn, an early-career actor, was reportedly there as actor Garrett Hedlund’s plus-one. Thus began a six-or-so-year-long relationship (depending on what clues you agree with) with a fairly definitive end point at or before April 2023.
Anonymous sources purportedly close to Alwyn have said that he, too, has “moved on” and is “focused on work.” And it’s that work that might force him a bit backward, if this latest interview—which, perhaps understandably, plays up his Swift connection far more prominently than his latest acting job—remains the norm.
Even Alwyn gets it, telling the Times, “I understand people’s curiosity,” when asked about Swift and TPD. And of the album, itself, he says that he “would hope that anyone and everyone can empathize and understand the difficulties that come with the end of a long, loving, fully committed relationship of over six and a half years.”
“That is a hard thing to navigate. What is unusual and abnormal in this situation is that, one week later, it’s suddenly in the public domain, and the outside world is able to weigh in.”
Looking back on the furor around their relationship, Alwyn says, “You have something very real suddenly thrown into a very unreal space: tabloids, social media, press, where it is then dissected, speculated on, pulled out of shape beyond recognition. And the truth is, to that last point, there is always going to be a gap between what is known and what is said. I have made my peace with that.”
Alwyn also suggests that fans and the media have been slower to move on than either he or Swift were. “Look, this is also a little over a year ago now, and I feel fortunate to be in a really great place in my life, professionally and personally,” he says.
One thing the relationship did teach him was the need to keep his personal life under as many wraps as possible. “As everyone knows, we together — both of us, mutually — decided to keep the more private details of our relationship private. It was never something to commodity, and I see no reason to change that now,” he says.
The same goes for whatever is happening in his romantic life at present, which he refuses to discuss. “I’m sure you can appreciate,” he says, “given the level of noise and scrutiny about my past relationship, why I wouldn’t want to just open the door to things like that right now.”
“I have brilliant, authentic people in my life,” he says. “I try and live in reality and away from the kind of online noise of Twitter—or wherever else it comes from—and try and just stay in the moment.”
“He’s dating and happy,” the source said. “He’s a great guy and not into drama in any way.”
Alwyn “certainly doesn’t talk poorly about [Taylor],” the source said. “He was in love with her, and it just didn’t work out.”
It’s not surprising that he doesn’t talk poorly of her, because Alwyn rarely talks publicly at all. “Joe loves acting, but can’t stand the attention that comes with it. He’s not comfortable in the spotlight,” the source added.
Indeed, even when the two were dating, the notoriously private Alwyn refused to speak about Swift in interviews, even clamming up when asked where he keeps the Grammy he earned by co-writing songs with her. “I actually don’t know where it is,” he said in an interview with Gold Derby. “I think it’s on the piano.” In 2018, when GQ asked him to name his favorite Swift track, his response was that he was “just not even going to go into that side of the world.”
Swift has moved on with a new-ish romance with Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce, hard launching their relationship with an appearance at one of his games in September 2023. Though an unnamed source told Entertainment Tonight that Alwyn and Swift “are not in touch at this point,” their Venn diagrams do have significant points of overlap: For example, Alwyn’s next role is in director Yorgos Lanthimos’s Kinds of Kindness, which he stars in opposite noted Swift pal Emma Stone. Margaret Qualley, whose New Jersey wedding to frequent Swift collaborator Jack Antonoff Swift attended last summer, is also in the film. Just because Swift has said “So Long, London,” that doesn’t mean the world’s maps have been revised.
Representatives for Alwyn and Swift did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Taylor Swift has a talent for singing about her past relationships and the men she has been with in her songs without actually naming them. Her lyrics always carry hints that can make fans draw their own conclusion. So when her recent album The Tortured Poets Department came out, everyone knew there were going to be songs about Joe Alwyn, who Taylor spent six years with before breaking up, and also about her current partner Travis Kelce.
However, Swift apparently did not forget about her short romance with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy. In one of the songs from the album, titled The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, the pop superstar allegedly eviscerates her relationship with Healy. And “Gazing at me starry-eyed/ In your Jehovah’s Witness suit” does seem like a hint.
Why do people think the song is about Matty Healy?
Well Swift has always been a master at leaving hints with her lyrics, and this time it’s no different. One of the first things that made fans think the song was about Healy was the title, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived. Fans took this as a hint because Healy once said that everyone else in his band was 6’4 and he was 5’10, which makes people think he is shorter than he is.
However, the real sign of the song being about Matty was in the first verse which said, “Gazing at me starry-eyed/ In your Jehovah’s Witness suit.” Which reminded the listeners about the way Healy dresses which was described as “close-cut suit and a tie,” by the New Yorker.
This is also a popular choice of clothing amongst Jehovah’s Witnesses who dress in a similar way to Healy, even though he is not a Witness himself. She also says, “If rusting my sparkling summer was the goal” in the song which apparently refers to their dating timeline which lasted till the early summer of 2023.
Some other lyrics from the song also seemed to allude to Taylor’s relationship with Matty. When she sings “You tried to buy some pills/ From a friend of friends of mine,” it reminded people of the time Healy spoke out about his experience with drugs and addiction.
The lyrics also inquire, “Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?” and “Were you writin’ a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy?/ In fifty years, will all this be declassified?” which seems to allude to the time Swifties thought that Matty Healy’s controversial history and habits were posing a threat to the popstar’s reputation.
There are other songs that allude to Matty Healy as well
When Swift’s new studio album was announced, people thought the songs would mostly be about her six-year-long relationship with Joe Alwyn which ended last year, and her current loving relationship with Travis Kelce. But people were pleasantly surprised to see that most of the songs seemed to allude towards the singer’s short spring romance with Matty Healy instead.
A lot of the sixteen songs in the album seem to point toward their relationship which was a point of gossip last year. The controversies that came up during the time were also alluded to in the song But Daddy I Love Him.
Other songs such as Guilty as Sin, I Can Fix Him (No I Really Can), loml, and even the title track The Tortured Poets Department which refers to someone as a “tattooed golden retriever” which seems to allude to Healy’s many tattoos. It seems as though a lot of the songs from the album were centered around her short-lived romance with Healy, which now seems to have been much more serious than initially thought.
By now, I’ve expected almost everyone to have streamed Taylor Swift’s new album: The Tortured Poet’s Department. Thanks to Swifties, and those curious to see if the album was about ex Joe Alwyn or ex Matty Healy (hint: both). TTPD broke Spotify’s streaming record in less than 12 hours. And then, two hours after the album released, she dropped a second installment…The girl never sleeps.
With 14 total albums, The Tortured Poet’s Department is a bit of a stylistic shift from her previous release, Midnights. We’re introduced to a heartbroken Swift, one who embodies vengeance and yearning through synth beats and biting lyrics. Her two features include Post Malone, on “Fortnight”, and Florence and The Machine, on “Florida!!!” You can listen to the album here:
Produced alongside her go-to squad, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dressner, Swift continues to challenge herself as an artist despite having conquered every accolade. While some songs lay flat (and maybe this has something to do with Antonoff’s production methods), others shine as instantaneous classics amongst Swift’s already impressive, groundbreaking discography.
The main takeaways from Taylor’s insight on her past few years is that Matty Healy had a much bigger impact on Swift’s story than we thought. We learn that Joe Alwyn cheated on Taylor in Orlando, Florida, and that’s why the state is mentioned so often throughout. And, furthermore, we learn that she still hates Kim Kardashian.
While this may not be the best album in her extensive collection, there are a handful of gems that stand out. With 31 songs total, The Tortured Poet’s Department can seem a bit redundant at times…and other times, Swift’s voice is often drowned out by stylistic beat choices and synths that don’t make much sense.
The fire for Swift burns bright throughout the world, but it’s important to note that she’s constantly churning out music. To be in creator-mode 24/7 means that not every song is going to be their best work…It’s statistically impossible, but Taylor will fare well nonetheless.
This isn’t your average album review, so I won’t delve into every song and lyric that may mean something…but here’s your essential rundown:
Popdust Hits: “Florida!!!”, “But Daddy I Love Him”, “Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me”, “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys”
Popdust Misses: “Down Bad”, “The Tortured Poets Department”, “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)”, “loml”
Songs About Joe Alwyn: “Florida!!!”, “So Long, London”, “loml”, “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart”, “How Did It End?”
Songs About Matty Healy: “The Tortured Poets Department”, “Guilty As Sin?”, “Down Bad”, “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus”, “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”, “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)”
Songs About Travis Kelce: “So High School”, “The Alchemy”
Taylor Swift’s album “The Tortured Poets Department” has sparked a wave of speculation and analysis among fans, with many interpreting the lyrics as references to her relationships with Joe Alwyn, Matty Healy, and even a mention of Kim Kardashian. The album, released on April 19, 2024, is seen as a reflection of Swift’s personal life, with fans eagerly dissecting the lyrics to uncover hidden meanings and references to her past and present relationships.
The album’s title itself seems to hint at a connection to the WhatsApp group chat “The Tortured Man Club,” which included Alwyn, Mescal, and Scott. This group was formed around the time Swift and Alwyn’s relationship ended, adding a layer of intrigue to the album’s themes.
Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Album: Feuds with Matty Healy, Joe Alwyn, and Kim Kardashian
Swift’s relationship with Joe Alwyn, which lasted six years, is a significant theme in the album. The breakup, which followed the release of “The Tortured Poets Department,” is believed to have influenced many of the songs. The album’s title and the timing of its release suggest a direct reference to this relationship, with fans noting the album’s exploration of themes such as marriage, babies, and breakups.
Matty Healy, the frontman of The 1975, is another figure who appears to be referenced in the album. Swift’s romance with Healy occurred between her breakup with Alwyn and the start of her relationship with Travis Kelce. Healy attended multiple shows on Swift’s Eras Tour and was spotted with her on various occasions before their reported split in June. The song “But Daddy, I Love Him” is seen by some as a response to fan backlash over Swift’s relationship with Healy, who has a history of controversial comments. The lyrics of this track seem to address the criticism and public scrutiny Swift faced during her relationship with Healy.
The album also includes references to Kim Kardashian, although the specific nature of these references is not detailed in the provided sources. However, given Swift’s history of public feuds and her tendency to address her relationships and public figures in her music, it’s plausible that Kardashian’s role in Swift’s life and public persona could be a topic of discussion in the album.
Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” is described as an anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions, and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time. The album is seen as a way for Swift to process her emotions and experiences, with some tracks laced with longing and heartache, while others express anger and disbelief at the public’s dissection of her love life.
“The Tortured Poets Department” is a deeply personal album that reflects on Swift’s relationships with Alwyn, Healy, and possibly others, including a mention of Kardashian. The album’s lyrics and themes provide a window into Swift’s emotional journey, offering fans a glimpse into her personal life and the public scrutiny she faces.
Joe Alwyn has made a headline-making comeback on Instagram. No, he never really left Instagram, but the actor is not consistent with posting on the social media app. Hence, when he did post on February 19, he became an instant topic of discussion.
Alwyn’s rare Instagram post on Monday marked the end of his five-month-long hiatus from the photo and video-sharing platform. His last Instagram post came in September last year.
Despite maintaining a life away from the fame and spotlight as much as possible, the Conversation with Friends star is always in the news, all thanks to his ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift, who also recently announced a new album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, during the 2024 Grammys, which the Swifties believe is about her romance and eventual fallout with Joe.
Joe Alwyn makes a rare Instagram appearance
Alwyn, who will celebrate his 33rd birthday on February 21, shared a series of pictures on his Instagram feed on Monday. The pictures included him taking a mirror selfie in the woods with a film camera, a picture of him photobombing actor Brian Cox at a pre-BAFTA party, as well as pics of a casino, an ocean, and an adorable throwback picture of him as a child.
The Harriet star, however, left no Instagram caption and also disabled comments on the particular upload on the social media app.
Meanwhile, he is being linked to Taylor’s aforementioned music album which is set to release on April 19. Keep reading to know what the chatter is about.
Is Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poet’s Department about Joe Alwyn? Swifties are almost certain! — Here’s why
Not only that, the name of the upcoming album itself, per Swifties, is a savage nod to the group chat Alwyn shared with his friends Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. In 2022, Alwyn and Mescal themselves told Variety that they were part of a WhatsApp group chat called The Tortured Man Club which Scott created.
The flip side of the story, Taylor has long moved on from Alwyn, with whom she parted ways in the spring of 2023. She is now dating NFL player and this year’s Super Bowl winner, Travis Kelce. The duo went public in September 2023.
As for Joe, he hasn’t been linked to anyone new since breaking up with Swift.
Laird recapped some “Moments in March” by sharing scenes from the set of their movie “The Brutalist,” which she stars in alongside Alwyn, Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce.
Among the photos was a snap of the “Anti-Hero” singer’s ex smiling while scootering around the streets of Hungary, where the project began filming on March 16.
Joe Alwyn attends the San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain on September 18, 2020. (Photo by Juan Naharro Gimenez/WireImage)
Juan Naharro Gimenez via Getty Images
Presumably taken last month, the photo could have been from around the time of the Swift split.
In early April, sources reported that the singer and actor’s relationship ended “a few weeks” prior.
Swift insiders told People they parted ways due to a “difference in their personalities,” while noting the breakup was nothing “dramatic.”
According to those close to the pop star, the couple “had rough patches before and always worked things out, so friends thought they would take some time apart but eventually come back together.”
Now that the breakup is official, the Swift squad appears to be cutting any digital ties to Alwyn.
The “We Are Never Getting Back Together” singer’s famous friends Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and rockers Danielle, Alana and Este Haim have all reportedly unfollowed him on Instagram.
Baby, let the games begin: Taylor Swift played her first date of her sold-out Eras Tour since news of her breakup with Joe Alwyn reached the devastated masses, and she has something to say. Like, not much, but something.
“Is it just me, or do we have a lot of things to catch up on?” she asked the crowd during her multi-hour set. Of course, she didn’t elaborate, but there’s not a lot of room for improv in the elaborately choreographed and produced show. Thursday was the first night of a three-night run in Tampa, Florida’s Raymond James Stadium.
In the slot of the evening where Swift has been playing two surprise songs, which she says she won’t repeat on other tour dates, the singer played “Speak Now” and “Treacherous,” saying, “I’ve been thinking a lot about one of my albums recently. One of my albums has been on my mind a lot… lots going on in my brain about it.”
One sharp-eyed redditor noticed that Thursday was 10 years from the date of a journal entry Swift had released, in which she said she landed on her third album’s title, Speak Now, with sentiments that may predict how she’s feeling now that she’s in her openly single era.
“I didn’t talk in interviews about how I felt about much of what has happened in the last 2 years,” she wrote in the 2013 entry, loglined from Nashville. “I’ve been silent about so much that I’m saying on this album. It’s time to Speak Now.”
Swift shook it off for several high-profile fans, including, reportedly, former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. Aaron Dessner, a Swift collaborator and member of the band The National, was also spotted in the crowd. Comedian Mike Birbiglia shared a photo of himself with Swift Thursday in what looks like Park Slope, Brooklyn, leading us to wonder whether teleportation is also among the star’s many talents, or the slightly more likely scenario that the photo was snapped during Swift’s New York visit over the few days she had between the Tampa stand and her last dates in Arizona. She was busy, after all, with the pyrotechnics in the UK to show for it.
Tampa has given Swift quite the welcome ahead of her stopover, naming her honorary mayor for a day (just when you thought Floridian politics couldn’t get any spicier), but the content that will be sticking with us for a long time to come is this message from Hillsborough School Superintendent Addison Davis to the students of the district. Presented without further comment, here’s….this.
Twitter content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
It’s time to stock up on tin foil like it’s toilet paper in March 2020, because the theories and discussion around Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn‘s rumored breakup after six-ish years as a couple are a-swirlin’ so vigorously you need water wings to stay above water. Don’t feel like you have the face shape to pull off a hat with full confidence? Fine, fine, a ball of yarn and some thumbtacks will do in a pinch.
Swift closed out her three-night run in Arlington, Texas on April 4, with the next planned stop on the Eras tour landing in Tampa, Florida on April 13. Reports of the split soft-launched on Saturday, April 8, with unnamed sources telling ET and People that “the relationship had run its course.” (Vanity Fair has reached out to Swift’s reps for comment.) Swift and Alwyn themselves haven’t released official comment or confirmation as of yet, but then, they wouldn’t—they’ve kept their public presence as opaque as the layers upon layers of pantyhose and nude fishnets Swift has made her signature onstage. Impenetrable. Very shiny. Probably both very supportive and weirdly relieving to take off at the end of the day, at the same time.
So where in the world is Taylor Swift in this week-long break from stage shows, as fans murmur “I hope she’s okay” to no one in particular while they listen to “Love Story” for the nth time on their commute? It would appear she’s blowing up buildings and googling herself.
Swift was spotted Sunday across the pond in Liverpool, according to a report in The Sun, shooting a music video for an as-yet-unrevealed track. With actress Joey King, who also appeared in the video for Swift’s “how dare you?” country-pop anthem “Mean,” on-site, Swift was spotted by paparazzi in what one captioned “boom smash and grab” on Twitter, with production simulating an explosion at the historic Cunard Building, with Swift maybe….stealing a painting? At the very least, she’s running like she got caught on the Beanie Baby forums after bedtime, with a large canvas under her arm. The production also reportedly filmed over the long weekend at St. George’s Hall in the area. Could one call this…“Vigilante Shit”?
There’s nothing Swift loves more than an Easter egg, so it seems fitting that when she wasn’t filming, she spent some downtime checking her mentions on TikTok. Call it proof of life, call it a reach, call it what you want, but Swift’s account dropped an approving “like” on a TikTok compilation of tour clips from a fan saying they couldn’t “wait 2 see her soon,” and another of a family dancing to “Karma” in a kitchen under a decorative cabbage garland (obviously). She lives! Karma is her boyfriend!
Swift’s not the only one googling herself: So are the masses. Her albums are on the rise on the iTunes charts, with Midnights currently clocking in the No. 12 spot, Folklore at 27, Lover at 30, Reputation at 43, Evermore at 58, and 1989 at 65 on the overall chart, but absolutely dominating the service’s pop album chart: Midnights is No. 1, Lover is No. 3, Reputation No. 5, and 1989 No. 8. Notably, all of these but 1989 are of what we might call the “Alwyn Era.” (And 1989 is a no-skips classic, so can’t blame that one for charting at any time.) We think we know that Alwyn also co-wrote some of the songs across the albums, credited under the pseudonym William Bowery, including “Exile,” “Betty,” “Champagne Problems,” “Coney Island,” “Evermore,” and “Sweet Nothing.” “Champagne Problems” and “Betty” have consistently been on Swift’s Eras setlists so far, and it’s been noted that in recent shows, “Invisible String,” which is a mush-o-rama ode to soulmates and includes references to Alwyn’s teenage job at a yogurt shop (which, it cannot be said often enough, was apparently called Snogs??), has been replaced with breakup anthem “The 1,” which has much less yogurt, but does include the line “the greatest loves of all time are over now.”
Meanwhile, Tampa is preparing itself for Swift’s stay, with Florida’s Hillsborough County temporarily declaring itself “Swiftsborough.” Here’s to hoping their tin foil supply is accordingly stocked. If anyone happens to be near New York’s Cornelia Street in the meantime, you may want to bring protective gear and/or an orthopedist, due to all the falling to knees happening around those parts.
Now that Taylor Swift and her London Boy Joe Alwyn have reportedly broken up after 6 years of dating, the question about their engagement is up again. The 33-year-old pop singer and Joe’s break up was reported to be “non-dramatic” because “the relationship had just run its course.”While Swifties are heartbroken about the breakup, they’re also really curious about one thing in particular. Fans wonder if Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn have been engaged in the 6 years they were dating. Here is everything we know.
Joe Alwyn addressed the engagement rumors
Last year in an interview, Joe finally spoke out on the topic of his and Taylor’s engagement saying, “If I had a pound for every time I think I’ve been told I’ve been engaged, then I’d have a lot of pound coins. I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn’t say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn’t say.” Taylor and Joe’s relationship has been very private over the years and the fans have gotten a glimpse inside it only through a few of Taylor’s songs.
In another interview, Joe said, “I’m aware people want to know about that side of things. I think we have been successfully very private and that has now sunk in for people … but I really prefer to talk about work.”
Ever since the start of the relationship, Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn have kept it under wraps. The couple has stayed lowkey throughout the course of their relationship. Reports of the two dating first emerged in May 2017, but in June 2017 the rumors were confirmed as Joe and Taylor were pictured together for the first time. In the October of the same year, Taylor released her song “Gorgeous” and admitted in a secret listening session to her fans that it was about Joe Alwyn. Later in December, Joe and Taylor were spotted snuggling during Ed Sheeran’s iHeartRadio performance.
When Taylor Swift first began dating actor Joe Alwyn more than four years ago, it was almost immediately clear the couple had come to an agreement: Their relationship would be an intimate but private one, and they’d be a united front in protecting that privacy. Gone were the paparazzi photo ops of Swift’s days with Tom Hiddleston, and gooey Instagram pics—like the ones she’d posted with Calvin Harris—would no longer populate her social media. Instead, her accounts would focus on promoting her work and sharing photos of her other loves: cats Olivia, Meredith, and Benjamin.
Still, a love story like Swift and Alwyn’s couldn’t stay behind closed doors forever, and since 2020, they’ve been more public about their relationship than ever before. This includes Swift’s confirmation that Alwyn co-wrote two songs on folklore under the pseudonym William Bowery and also helped pen three tracks from Swift’s latest record, evermore. As we eke out the details, scroll below for a timeline of their coupledom, leading up to their collaboration on Swift’s ninth album and the brewing engagement rumors.
May 2, 2016: They meet at the Met Gala (probably).
Nobody knows for sure when Swift and Alwyn first met. But sleuths have determined that the song “Dress” on her 2017 album Reputation might refer to their first meeting.
The lyrics in question: “Flashback to when you met me, your buzzed cut and my hair bleached.” Swift’s hair was, indeed, bleached at the Met Gala, and Alwyn’s hair was buzzed.
Neilson Barnard//Getty Images
At the time, Swift was still dating Harris—and this was also the night she met Hiddleston and danced goofily with him in a video that went viral, and later sparked the rebound heard ‘round the world. It was an eventful night for Tay.
Oct. 12, 2016: Swift and Alwyn attend the same Kings of Leon concert.
A month after breaking up with Hiddleston, Swift went to a Kings of Leon show with her friends. Online sleuths have since determined that Alwyn was at the show, too.
Nov. 12, 2016: Swift attends Alwyn’s movie screening.
Swift and a gaggle of squad members went to the premiere of Alwyn’s film, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. If she and Alwyn were dating at this point, it was so under the radar that press coverage of the premiere didn’t even mention his name. It’s not clear if he was in attendance.
Alwyn at the photo call for Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.
Kris Connor//Getty Images
May 16, 2017: Reports emerge that they’re dating.
A source close to the pair told The Sun that Swift and Alwyn had been together for a few months, and that their friends and families were in on it:
“This isn’t a new couple alert or a secret relationship – the only people this has been a secret to is the media because all of us, Taylor and Joe’s closest friends and their families, were aware they have been together for several months and have known each other for a long time.
“After her 1989 tour and all the attention Taylor received, she learned she had to be more protective of her personal life and she and Joe decided early on to keep their private life private.”
June 5, 2017: They’re caught by the paparazzi in Nashville.
The paparazzi finally caught the couple in action: sitting on a balcony in Nashville, where Alwyn was allegedly meeting Swift’s parents for the first time.
July 25, 2017: They’re caught again, this time in New York.
Hoodies pulled tight over their faces, the couple were caught leaving Swift’s apartment.
Swift and Alwyn seemed desperate to go incognito in these pics.
Oct. 20, 2017: Swift tells fans her new single “Gorgeous” is about Alwyn.
Swift hosted a “secret” listening session for her new album, Reputation. She allegedly told fans the single “Gorgeous” is about Alwyn.
This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
“Basically Taylor made us all promise that if anyone made any accusations of who this song is about, we tell them it is 100 percent about her angel boyfriend of one year,” a fan wrote on Tumblr. “This isn’t a secret. She wanted us to tell people.”
Oct. 27, 2017: Ed Sheeran spills the beans on Alwyn.
On the heels of Swift’s revelation that “Gorgeous” is about Alwyn, her good friend Ed Sheeran was asked about Alwyn on a British radio show.
“He’s really nice,” he said. “Really, really friendly, really good dude.”
Dec. 11, 2017: The couple is spotted snuggling during an Ed Sheeran performance.
Momentarily letting their guard down, Swift and Alwyn engaged in some honest-to-god PDA while Ed Sheeran performed at iHeartRadio’s Jingle Bell Ball in New York City.
“THEY LITERALLY SLOW DANCED TO ALL EDS SONGS WITH THEIR ARMS AROUND ONE ANOTHER AND JUST KEPT LOOKING AT EACH OTHER AND KISSING,” a fan tweeted, according to EW.
May 8, 2018: They post coordinating cactus photos to Instagram.
Both Alwyn and Swift posted photos of themselves, solo, standing next to the same cactus.
Alwyn later said they didn’t even realize the photos coordinated.
“I didn’t even think of that until I was in New York and someone else mentioned it,” he said, according to ET. “It wasn’t purposeful at all!”
This is the closest we’ve come to an “Instagram-official” moment for the couple.
Sept. 19, 2018: Alwyn talks about Swift for the first time—but only to say he doesn’t want to talk about her.
“I’m aware people want to know about that side of things,” he said to British Vogue. “I think we have been successfully very private and that has now sunk in for people…but I really prefer to talk about work.”
Oct. 18, 2018: Alwyn speaks very, very briefly about Swift’s newfound political activism.
In early October, Swift finally waded into the political world to endorse two Tennessee congressional candidates, after a career-long silence.
A few days later, an interviewer asked Alwyn how he felt about Swift’s post.
“I think it’s great, and I think it’s important,” he said, before uncomfortably shuffling away.
Nov. 23, 2018: Swift acknowledges Alwyn’s existence on social media.
After two years of knowing him, Swift finally posted something about Alwyn—or at least, his work—on Instagram.
It was a clipped trailer for his new movie, The Favourite, with a caption calling the film “phenomenal” and imploring her followers to go see it. She tagged the movie’s account, plus Alwyn’s and Nicholas Hoult’s.
Nov. 25, 2018: Alwyn reiterates that he’d like to keep his private life private.
In an interview with GQ, he skirted around the topic of Taylor, saying, “Someone’s private life is, by definition, private. No one is obliged to share their personal life.”
He also declined to name a favorite Swift song. “I’m just not even going to go into that side of the world,” he said.
Dec. 7, 2018: Alwyn opens up a teeny bit about their relationship.
Just to mix things up, Alwyn provided a tiny kernel of information about his relationship with Swift, before saying he didn’t want to talk about it.
Esquire asked him if he sought out any guidance from friends when he started dating Swift.
“I didn’t seek out advice on that,” he said. “Because I know what I feel about it. I think there’s a very clear line as to what somebody should share, or feel like they have to share, and what they don’t want to and shouldn’t have to.”
Dec. 11, 2018: Swift attends Alwyn’s movie premiere in London.
Swift popped up at the Cineworld Leicester premiere of Mary Queen of Scots as well as an after-party.
Jan. 6, 2019: Swift and Alwyn attend the Golden Globes (separately).
Alwyn attended the awards show for his nominated film The Favourite, and Swift presented Best Original Score and Best Original Song during the 2019 Golden Globes. Although they didn’t walk the red carpet together, an Us Weeklysource claimed the two got quite flirty while she was onstage.
“While Taylor presented, Joe watched the teleprompter near him and smiled and (his Favourite costar) Nicholas Hoult patted him on the back,” the source said. “After Gaga walked on stage, Joe shifted his gaze to the stage near Taylor.” The insider added, “She was smiling at him while she walked off the stage. She looked over her shoulder and gave a sassy cute little smile at his table’s direction.”
Handout//Getty Images
Feb. 10, 2019: Swift and Alwyn step out at a BAFTAS after party.
Swift skipped the Grammy Awards in favor of attending a BAFTAs after party with her beau. Clad in a pale blue Stella McCartney gown, Swift gave off major Cinderella vibes alongside Alwyn. The two were even photographed walking together hand-in-hand. (A rare occurrence for this secretive duo!)
GOR//Getty Images
March 2019: Engagement rumors begin.
As Swift continued filming the big screen version of Cats in London, reports swirled that getting engaged to Alwyn was not far off. “Taylor’s friends are all talking about a proposal and how she really wants to marry Joe,” an Us Weeklysource shared. “He’s her dream guy.”
A Peoplesource echoed those sentiments, saying, “Taylor really got lucky to meet Joe, and she is the first one to say it. Joe really is one of a kind.”
May 2019: The couple is spotted on a couple dates.
Swift and Alwyn ate breakfast at Café de Flore and then took a stroll through the city of Paris in a rare public outing.
Later in the month, the couple made it a double date with similarly private pair Robert Pattinson and Suki Waterhouse. Per an Us Weeklyonlooker, the four low-key celebs dined at San Vicente Bungalows in Hollywood, spending the night laughing and talking.
August 2019: Swift releases Lover—and fans go nuts dissecting the lyrics.
Ahead of the August 23 release of her album Lover, Swift revealed to fans that new music would address her current relationship…in so many words. During a YouTube Live,she explained,“It’s a really romantic album, but it really celebrates love in all its complexity. Not just flowers and sunshine but the patchwork emotions that go into any love you feel.”
Once the album dropped, fans began dissecting every song for hidden clues about the couple. Some were even convinced the songs “Lover” and “Paper Rings” were Swift’s big marriage reveal.
Swift continued to avoid talking about Alwyn in interviews. While speaking toThe Guardian about why she wouldn’t speak on her relationship, she said, “I’ve learned that if I do, people think it’s up for discussion, and our relationship isn’t up for discussion,” she said with a laugh. “If you and I were having a glass of wine right now, we’d be talking about it—but it’s just that it goes out into the world. That’s where the boundary is, and that’s where my life has become manageable. I really want to keep it feeling manageable.”
Shortly after a People source gave an update on the relationship saying, “Joe’s personality is great for Taylor. He is very calm and always very supportive. He’s sympathetic and understanding and supports her speaking out about things that she doesn’t agree with.”
Even her inner circle likes Joe, the source added: “There’s something refreshing and different about their relationship. Joe makes Taylor very happy, and it’s hard to picture her not spending the rest of her life with him. Her family loves him. He seems older than he is and is a fantastic guy.”
As for future comment from either party regarding the romance? The source says it’s unlikely: “Joe loves acting but doesn’t want to be a celebrity,” the source said. “They both agree that for their relationship to keep working, they want to keep things more quiet. She’s the happiest she’s ever been.”
September 2019: The couple is photographed on a private plane.
The two were photographed boarding Swift’s private plane after a low-key trip to her beach house in Watch Hill, Rhode Island.
October 5, 2019: They’re seen together after SNL.
In a rare sighting for the couple, Alwyn and Swift were seen holding hands after the singer’s Saturday Night Live performances. They headed to New York’s Zuma for the show’s after party.
Jackson Lee//Getty Images
November 2019: Swift joins Alwyn for Thanksgiving.
Swift celebrated Thanksgiving in London with Alwyn, according to E!, but not before hosting a splashy American Friendsgiving with friends including Gigi Hadid, Antoni Porowski, and Martha Hunt.
Instagram
Early December 2019: The lovers spend time in London.
Us Weeklyand E! both ran reports early in the month stating things between the couple are still going well. “Taylor has had a tough year and Joe has been a rock for her,” a source told Us. “They are still going very strong.”
Meanwhile, E! reported that,“Taylor has been spending a lot of down time in London,” per a source. “She doesn’t go out much other than to take a walk with Joe or go to the local pub. They spend a lot of time with Joe’s family and friends. All weekend they had people come over or they went to family members’ homes.”
December 16, 2019: Alwyn supports Swift’s acting career.
Alwyn was on hand to subtly support Swift at the NYC premiere of her new movie, Cats.
Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin//Getty Images
December 26, 2019: The couple spends Christmas together.
After spending Thanksgiving together, E! reported that Swift spent her Christmas holiday in London, too. “Taylor spent the holidays in England with Joe,” a source told the outlet. “She was there for the week leading up to Christmas and spent time with Joe’s family and friends. Some of Taylor’s family also flew in from Nashville to spend time with them.”
January 1, 2020: The duo are serenaded in the Maldives.
Alwyn and Swift rang in New Year’s Eve with a concert in the Maldives. Although neither party revealed the travel plans themselves, singer Matthew Crane posted the news himself on Instagram. “So I can now finally reveal who I sung to on New Year’s Eve in the Maldives, probably the most notable Pop Star at the moment, the one and only @taylorswift and @joe.alwyn,” he wrote on his Instagram. “They were both so friendly and kind to me when I performed, they even gave me a standing ovation and complimented on my voice. It was truly an honor and an experience that I will never forget. 🎤🎶”
January 5, 2020: Alwyn and Swift sit together at the 2020 Golden Globes.
The couple had their most public outing to date at the 2020 Golden Globes, where Swift was a presenter and nominee for Best Original Song – Motion Picture for her and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new original song for Cats, “Beautiful Ghosts.” While they didn’t walk the red carpet together, onlookers captured Swift and Alwyn taking their seats next to each other inside the ballroom:
This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
E! also tweeted out a photo of the pair sitting side-by-side, Alwyn in a tux and Swift in an Etro gown:
This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Next, the couple of more than three years was spotted at the Golden Globes CAA after party. A source told E! that Swift (in a a sparkly navy Alexandre Vauthier dress) wasn’t afraid to show PDA with Alwyn. “They looked inseparable and really in love,” the source noted. “Taylor had her arm on Joe, and she leaned in to kiss him several times.”
January 31, 2020: Miss Americana drops on Netflix.
With the release of Swift’s documentary Miss Americana, came new insight into her romance with Alwyn. She spoke vaguely about why she fell for Alwyn in the fall of 2016, after her Kim Kardashian Snapchat drama had tarnished her reputation. “I felt alone, I felt really bitter,” she explained. “I felt sort of like a wounded animal lashing out. I figured I had to reset everything. I had to reconstruct an entire belief system for my own personal sanity. I also was falling in love with someone who had a wonderfully normal, balanced life.”
This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Swift also revealed why she and Alwyn chose to keep their relationship quiet. “We decided together we wanted our relationship to be private,” she said. “Even though it [Swift’s public image in 2016] was really horrible, I was happy. But I wasn’t happy in the way I was trained to be happy. It was happiness without anyone else’s input. We were just…happy.”
Those searching for Alwyn appearances won’t find much. He kissed her hand in the car at one point and hugged her backstage after a performance of “Getaway Car” on tour. Swift also serenaded Alwyn with a song believed to be about him from her album Reputation. She sang the song “Call It What You Want” to him while he filmed her.
February 12, 2020: They’re spotted at the NME Awards.
Just before Valentine’s Day, Swift and Alwyn got close in the audience of the NME Awards in London. An audience member spotted Swift, sporting a two-tone Monse short suit, and Alwyn kiss and hug when she was announced the winner of Best Solo Act.
This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
February 23, 2020: They celebrate Alwyn’s birthday.
For Alwyn’s 29th birthday, Swift joined her beau, along with Ed Sheeran and his wife, Cherry Seaborn, for a celebration in London. The foursome and a few other friends hung out at restaurant Bob Bob Richard in Soho, per E! News. “They had fun drinking champagne at the table by pushing a button that says ‘Press for Champagne’ and having it immediately dispensed,” a restaurant source told E!. “They were there for several hours enjoying the night.”
March 24, 2020: We learn they’ve talked about marriage.
An Us Weeklysource gave an update on marriage talks between Alwyn and Swift. “[They] have talked about their future and marriage,” a source told the outlet. “They don’t have a set deadline in place, but they’re very much in love.” The source added, “Taylor considers Joe one of the only safe constants in her life. He has always been a huge support and stuck by her.”
April 29, 2020: The lovers finally share some details on social media.
Alwyn also shared a photo of himself drinking a large glass of white wine, which is similar to a May 7 post from Swift where she’s holding a glass of vino. “I love spending a full evening cooking a meal while sipping a glass of wine and listening to old music,” Swift even told People of her quarantine routine, via Billboard.
Instagram
May 13, 2020: More photos arise.
A couple weeks later, Alwyn delivered another quarantine update on Instagram. He posted several photos on his Instagram Story, including a few that showcase Swift’s cat, Benjamin.
Instagram
Instagram
Alwyn also shared a black-and-white photo of himself drinking coffee and glancing over at the camera. Fans have speculated that Swift took that photo, just as they’ve guessed Alwyn is quietly taking hers.
Instagram
July 23, 2020: folklore speculation begins.
Several months into Swift and Alwyn’s relatively quiet quarantine, Swift announced the surprise release of her eighth album, folklore. While fans awaited the 16-track release, social media was already speculating about which songs were inspired by Alwyn.
The first song that some lyrics were available for was “cardigan.” An excerpt of the track’s lyrics were found on the back of a new merch item on Swift’s website. “But I knew you / Playing hide-and-seek and / Giving me your weekends / I knew you / Your heartbeat on the High Line / Once in twenty lifetimes / And when I felt like I was an old cardigan / Under someone’s bed / You put me on and said / I was your favorite,” the romantic lyrics read, hinting at her longtime love with Alwyn.
This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
🎵 | Lyrics from “I knew you”
But I knew you Playing hide-and-seek and Giving me your weekends I knew you Your heartbeat on the High Line Once in twenty lifetimes And when I felt like I was an old cardigan Under someone’s bed You put me on and said I was your favorite
Another theory regarding Alwyn and folklore was that the song “betty” refers to Alwyn’s mother of the same name. Since then, it’s been reported that the track actually reveals the name of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ third daughter. Even more interesting: Some seemed to think that Swift’s album collaborator, William Bowery, is Alwyn himself. When announcing her album, Swift shared her co-writers and producers for folklore, but didn’t tag Bowery.Conspiracy theorists seemed to think Alwyn and Swift being spotted outside the Bowery Hotel in October 2016, coupled with the fact that Alwyn’s great-grandfather is named William, means he’s behind the pseudonym.
This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
🔍 | Fans are speculating who “William Bowery” (co-wrote two songs on “folklore”) is, as there are no registered or previously credited songwriters/producers under that name. “William Bowery” is also the only untagged co-write in Taylor’s post. pic.twitter.com/CvClhjf3ZL
— Taylor Swift Updates🧣 (@TSwiftinAsia) July 23, 2020
July 24, 2020: folklore is released.
With the release of folklore, answers to several questions about Alwyn’s musical inspiration were provided. On the track “invisible string,” Swift references a London yogurt shop that Alwyn worked in as a teen, as well as the dive bars of their early relationship and a trip for their third anniversary. Other songs, including bonus track “the lakes” and “peace” also allude to Swift and Alwyn’s relationship. An excerpt from “Peace,” for example:
All these people think love’s for show/But I would die for you in secret/The devil’s in the details, but you got a friend in me/Would it be enough if I could never give you peace? And you know that I’d swing with you for the fences/Sit with you in the trenches/Give you my wild, give you a child/Give you the silence that only comes when two people understand each other/Family that I chose, now that I see your brother as my brother.
November 13, 2020: More lyrics are explained.
Swift confirmed that Alwyn helped inspire “peace” during a conversation with Paul McCartney for Rolling Stone. She said that the song “is actually more rooted in my personal life. I know you have done a really excellent job of this in your personal life: carving out a human life within a public life, and how scary that can be when you do fall in love and you meet someone, especially if you’ve met someone who has a very grounded, normal way of living. I, oftentimes, in my anxieties, can control how I am as a person and how normal I act and rationalize things, but I cannot control if there are 20 photographers outside in the bushes and what they do and if they follow our car and if they interrupt our lives. I can’t control if there’s going to be a fake weird headline about us in the news tomorrow.”
When McCartney asked if Swift’s partner was able to “sympathize with that and understand,” she replied, “Oh, absolutely.” But Swift added that her relationship with Alwyn had changed her viewpoint on maintaining privacy in her personal life. “But I think that in knowing him and being in the relationship I am in now, I have definitely made decisions that have made my life feel more like a real life and less like just a storyline to be commented on in tabloids,” she explained. “Whether that’s deciding where to live, who to hang out with, when to not take a picture—the idea of privacy feels so strange to try to explain, but it’s really just trying to find bits of normalcy. That’s what that song ‘Peace’ is taking about. Like, would it be enough if I could never fully achieve the normalcy that we both crave? [McCartney’s designer daughter] Stella always tells me that she had as normal a childhood as she could hope for under the circumstances.”
November 25, 2020: Swift confirms William Bowery’s identity.
Months after the release of folklore, Swift finally confirmed what her fans had long suspected: songwriter William Bowery is Alwyn. Speaking to the album’s producers, Jack Antonoff and The National’s Aaron Dessner, Swift revealed that “betty” and “exile” were co-written by Alwyn in the Disney+ film, folklore: the long pond studio sessions. “So, William Bowery is Joe…as we know,” she teased.
“Joe plays piano beautifully and he’s always just playing and making things up and kind of creating things. And ‘exile’ was crazy because Joe had written that entire piano part,” Swift explained, adding, “He was singing the Bon Iver part, the ‘I can see you standing honey, with his arms around your body, laughing but the joke’s not funny at all.’ He was just singing it. And I was entranced and asked if we could keep writing that one.” Swift said the fact that she and Alwyn are “really, really, really big Bon Iver fans” helped make the collaboration happen.
This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Taylor Swift – exile (folklore: the long pond studio sessions | Disney+) ft. Bon Iver
As for “betty” Swift said she heard Alwyn singing “the entire fully formed chorus from another room.” She added, “And I was just like ‘Hello.’ It was a step that we would never have taken because, why would we have ever written a song together?”
It was the couple’s first time working together, something Swift said she and Alwyn approached cautiously. “So this was the first time we had a conversation where I came in and I was like, ‘Hey, this could be really weird, and we could hate this, so because we’re in quarantine and there’s nothing else going on, could we just try to see what it’s like if we write this song together?’” she recalled.
December 3, 2020: The engagement rumors heat up again.
In early December, Swift released a snippet of her re-recorded version of “Love Story,” which could be heard in a Match.com commercial featuring friend Ryan Reynolds. The new recording made waves as it was the first concrete indication that Swift was re-recording her entire catalogue owned by Scooter Braun. But it also sparked rumors about Swift and Alwyn potentially being engaged. Some fans noticed that the lyric “Baby, just say, ‘Yes’” might have been changed to “Baby, just said, ‘Yes.’” Several Swifties tweeted this theory in the hours after the song’s release. Multiple sources told E!, however, that the lyrics to the song had not changed.
While Entertainment Tonightwasn’t able to confirm engagement theories, a source said the couple does talk about “their future together.” The insider said, “Joe has provided such a great support system for Taylor. He is the one constant in her life that she can truly rely on. Joe has helped Taylor with her music, inspiring it. She is so grateful for him and in love with him. He is her cheerleader and rock. They have spoken about their future together, and they love celebrating the holidays together and are looking forward to that.”
ET’s source also spoke about how Alwyn is supporting Swift as she deals with her mother Andrea’s cancer diagnosis. “[Taylor] has been having a tough time with her mom’s health, but her mom is getting treatment and she and her family have been trying to stay optimistic,” the source said. “She has been focusing on her music and spending a lot of time with Joe. Taylor wanted to take some time to herself and her family this year, so in that regard, the quarantine and break has been positive for her.”
December 8, 2020: Swift shuts down engagement rumors.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Swift subtly shut down engagement rumors when she called Alwyn her “boyfriend.” Swift had been discussing who knew she was making folklore during the interview, conducted in early November: “The only people who knew were the people that I was making it with, my boyfriend, my family, and then my management team,” she said. “So that’s the smallest number of people I’ve ever had know about something.”
December 11, 2020: evermore appears.
About five months after dropping folklore, Swift announced the surprise release of her ninth album, evermore. When the 15-track record debuted at midnight, Swifties quickly began dissecting which songs could be about her relationship with Alwyn. At least three songs directly involve the actor: “champagne problems,” “coney island” and “evermore.”William Bowery, Alwyn’s songwriting pseudonym, is credited on those tracks. Beyond that, lyrics for “long story short” and “willow” seem to reference Swift’s long-lasting love with Alwyn.
But for those hoping Swift would confirm either an engagement or marriage to Alwyn, no such luck. The only song that references a proposal, “champagne problems,” appears to be about a fictional couple and ends with the woman declining the offer. Additionally, multiple sources confirmed to TMZ that the two are not secretly married either.
January 11, 2021: The couple is finally photographed again.
After 11 months of not being seen out together, Swift and Alwyn were photographed in London while on a walk with Alwyn’s mother, Elizabeth. The two were bundled up in winter gear. According to E!’s sources, Swift had been going back and forth between Nashville and London to spend time with her family and Alwyn’s family.
January 14, 2021: Swift hints she’s ready to bring the relationship into the public eye.
A source told Entertainment Tonight that Swift is ready to be more public with her and Alwyn’s relationship. “Taylor has gotten more and more comfortable being public with Joe and letting fans in on their romance in a way that she feels is still protecting it,” the source explained. “She loves Joe so much and, of course, is not trying to hide their relationship, but she prefers to keep specific details private.” Additionally, the source said the couple was in it for the long haul and sees a future together.
February 17, 2021: Swift reveals Alwyn helped her decide to speak out on political issues.
Swift wrote to Vanity Fair to discuss her documentary Miss Americana, and how she found her voice during the 2018 midterm elections—with the help of Alwyn.
Swift opened up about how her partner helped her become more comfortable speaking out about politics, in rare public remarks about him.
Swift wrote, “As a country musician, I was always told it’s better to stay out of [politics]…The Trump presidency forced me to lean in and educate myself. I found myself talking about government and the presidency and policy with my boyfriend [Joe Alwyn], who supported me in speaking out.”
May 11, 2021: Swift shouts out Alwyn (and many others) in a BRIT Awards speech.
Dressed in a Miu Miu crop top and skirt, Swift told the audience about the joys and challenges of creating her most recent albums: “The world changed, and I ended up putting out three albums instead, so making folklore and evermore was one of the most unique, cathartic, extraordinary experiences I’ve ever had. I would love the opportunity to thank the amazing creative people that I made those albums with. Thank you, Aaron Dessner, thank you Jack Antonoff, Joe [Alwyn, Swift’s boyfriend], Justin Vernon, the National, Marcus Mumford, Jon Low, Serban Ghenea, Laura Sisk, and HAIM. I want to thank my friends and family who know exactly who they are: Whose opinion of me never changed whether my stock was up or down.”
In the clip below, you can watch Swift thank Alwyn specifically (around the 2:20 mark), accented by a slight pause and a sweet smile.
This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
May 20, 2021: Marriage rumors continue to swirl.
In late May, Entertainment Tonight released a story confirming that Alwyn and Swift’s engagement rumor mill was alive and well.
“They grew closer than ever during the quarantine and she really trusts him,” a source told ET. “They’ve been continuing to be pretty low-key about their relationship to the outside world to continue to protect it…They’ve discussed future plans and Taylor can see herself marrying Joe one day.”
November 23, 2021: Swift visits Alwyn on set for latest movie.
Alwyn did not make an appearance at Swift’s Saturday Night Live musical guest spot in November, and it was because he was away on set filming a new movie. A source told E! that, “Taylor visited her boyfriend on the set of his movie.”
Shooting for The Stars at Noon began in October 2021, according to ScreenDaily. and Alwyn joined the cast to replace Taron Egerton, per Deadline, who “had to leave the project due to personal reasons.”
December 19, 2021: Swift likes Alwyn’s Instagram post from Panama.
On Sunday, December 19, Alwyn posted a series of photographs seemingly from the set of The Stars at Noon, and Swift liked it within minutes.
Instagram
Alwyn posed in the photos with director Claire Denis, who signaled she was in Panama as well with an image featuring the Panama flag.
February 9, 2022: Alwyn makes his first brief comment on Swift in years.
While discussing his upcoming project Conversations With Friends, Alwyn confirms his relationship with Swift is closed. “I think people can do what they want and makes them happy. I’m obviously happy in a monogamous relationship,” Alwyn said, referring to Swift, via E!.
February 18, 2022: After engagement rumors spread, a source says that Swift and Alwyn have spoken about their future.
Life & Stylereported on February 17 that Swift and Alwyn privately got engaged. Their reps didn’t comment on the rumor. A source spoke to Entertainment Tonight, not addressing engagement speculation but saying that the two prefer to keep their personal relationship private.
Swift and Alwyn “are very happy in their relationship,” the source said. “They’ve been enjoying their time as a couple. They have spoken about their future together and feel very secure about their relationship.”
The source added that they’ve mastered balancing their careers with their relationship. “They’re supportive of each other’s careers and of each other in general,” the source said. “Both of them have been busy with work and they completely understand how to balance hectic schedules and still make time for each other. It’s part of why their relationship really works.”
March 26, 2022: Swift and Alwyn attend a pre-Oscars party together.
In a very rare public sighting of the couple, Alwyn and Swift hit up the CAA’s pre-Oscars party at the San Vicente Bungalows. Two sources spoke to E! about what the two were like there. “Taylor was introducing Joe to many people around her,” the first source said. “She looked smitten and proud to be there with him.”
A second source said that Swift and Alwyn “were very coupley and cute and seemed happy to be there together. Taylor and Joe were together all night. He was leading her around introducing her to people, and Taylor also introducing people to Joe. When Joe was leading Taylor around, he held his arm around her back.”
April 2022: In a series of interviews to promote Conversations With Friends, Alwyn touches on Swift…very slightly, including engagement rumors.
On April 13, he told ELLE UKof why he doesn’t discuss their relationship in interviews: “It’s not really [because I] want to be guarded and private, it’s more a response to something else,” he said with a shrug. “We live in a culture that is so increasingly intrusive… The more you give—and frankly, even if you don’t give it—something will be taken.” And that’s all he offered about his personal life this time.
On April 19, to ELLE US, Alwyn said on the subject of writing more songs with Swift, “It’s not a plan of mine [to continue writing songs], no,” Alwyn said.
On April 20, he told WSJon the subject of engagement rumors: “If I had a pound for every time I think I’ve been told I’ve been engaged, then I’d have a lot of pound coins. “I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn’t say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn’t say.”
On April 30 to The Guardian, Alwyn addressed why he keeps his relationship with Swift private again and how he felt about them winning a Grammy for Folklore.
On what it’s like dating Swift and the attention it garners, he said, “It’s not something I think about, unless I’m in situations like this, and someone says, ‘What’s it like?’ and I have to think about what to say about it. It’s just not for other people [our relationship]. And I don’t say that with aggression.”
“I don’t know how best to talk about it,” he continued. “I mean, I’m aware of people’s … of that size of interest, and that world existing. It’s just not something I particularly care about, or have much interest in feeding, I guess, because the more it’s fed, the more you are opening a gate for intrusion. I think that’s just my response to a culture that has this increasing expectation that everything is going to be given. If you don’t post about the way you make your coffee in the morning, or if you don’t let someone take a picture when you walk out of your front door, is that being private? I don’t know if it is. So I just don’t really feed that. If you and I were having a conversation, and having a shandy in my house, and it wasn’t being recorded, then, of course, other things would be said.” (Alwyn’s last remark echoed the one Swift made to The Guardian in 2019.)
And on winning that Grammy and writing songs with Swift, he said, “It wasn’t like, ‘It’s five o’clock, it’s time to try and write a song together.’ It came about from messing around on a piano, and singing badly, then being overheard, and being, like, ‘Let’s see what happens if we get to the end of it together.’ I mean fun is such a stupid word, but it was a lot of fun. And it was never a work thing, or a ‘Let’s try and do this because we’re going to put this out’ thing. It was just like baking sourdough in lockdown. The Grammy was obviously this ridiculous bonus.”
May 2022: Joe Alwyn says he hopes people “stop caring” about their relationship in new interview.
In a new interviews with GQ, Alwyn reiterated again why he chooses not to speak about his relationship, “I think because the precedent was set—that our choice is to be private and not feed that side of things—the more you do that, hopefully, the more that intrusiveness or intrigue drops off.”
June 2022: Joe Alwyn and Taylor Swift are seen kissing during their vacation in the Bahamas.
TMZ shared photos of the couple kissing for the summer solstice while vacationing together in the Bahamas. The blurry images show them embracing while neck-deep in the blue ocean waters.
July 2022: Joe Alwyn and Taylor Swift go out for a date in London.
On July 15, the couple went out on a rare public date in London, where they were photographed by the waiting paparazzi. They enjoyed some ice coffee and time in a public park together. Swift’s hand was briefly visible and there was no ring on her left hand, which some people took to mean that she is definitely not engaged.
August 2022: Joe Alwyn and Taylor Swift are photographed on a dinner date in New York City ahead of the MTV VMAs.
Swift and Alwyn signaled their relationship is going strong nearly six years in when the two were photographed grabbing dinner with Swift’s longtime friend Lena Dunham during the last week of August. The three dined at Manhattan private members club Casa Cipriani, and once again, Swift appeared without any engagement ring on her left finger, debunking engagement rumors once more.
October 2022: Swift shared that one of her songs is all about keeping her relationship with Alwyn private.
Swift has been discussing the tracks on her upcoming album Midnights and track one, “Lavender Haze,” is inspired by her relationship with Alwyn — and also the series Mad Men.
“I happened upon the phrase ‘Lavender Haze’ when I was watching Mad Men,” the musical artist explained in a post on Instagram. “I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool, and it turns out that it’s a common phrase used in the ’50s where they would describe being in love…If you were in the lavender haze, then that meant that you were in that all-encompassing love glow, and I thought that was really beautiful.”
Swift continued, “I guess theoretically, when you’re in the lavender haze, you’ll do anything to stay there and not let people bring you down off of that cloud. I think a lot of people have to deal with this now, not just ‘public figures’, because we live in the era of social media. If the world finds out that you’re in love with somebody, they’re going to weigh in on it.”
But, specifically, Swift and Alwyn have to deal with it a lot, and she added, “We’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it. This song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”
November 2022: Joe Alwyn shares adorable picture of home life with Swift.
On Friday, November 25, Alwyn shared photo on his Instagram Stories of what appears to be his own ankle, with a black and white kitty cat snuggled up to it. The cat reportedly belongs to Taylor Swift and his name is Benjamin.
Joe Alwyn//Instagram
The rest of his Stories that day were from different places, so it may have been taken at another time. However, it was Thanksgiving weekend, the perfect time to stay in bed with the cat and your partner.
Molly Mulshine is a writer and performer living in New York City by way of the Jersey Shore.
Savannah Walsh is an Editorial Fellow at ELLE.com.
Lauren Puckett-Pope is an associate editor at ELLE, where she covers film, TV, books and fashion.
It appears that Beyonce, RIhanna, and Taylor Swift collectively agreed to descend from the music heavens to grace our mortal ears with new albums. What a time for female musicians to swoop in and save the music industry as we know it.
On October 21st, Taylor Swift’s tenth album, Midnights, was released and it’s guaranteed to contain a dozen fall anthems. Ever since she announced the new album at MTV’s Video Music Awards, the public has been drooling over Taylor’s every move…and they should.
TSwift is known for her Easter Eggs, meaning no post of hers is unintentional. Little clues and hints about her album and song lyrics are often teased through Swift’s cryptic messages. Even the subtle way she holds a phone can be interpreted differently by many fans.
We know Taylor has been constantly re-recording her old tracks, the most recent being her groundbreaking Red album…but fans still want Taylor to give us new songs to obsess over. She rarely leaves us hanging, constantly feeding us with hit after hit.
Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn
Blitz Pictures/Shutterstock
There’s been many versions of Taylor since her country-pop self-titled debut album, Taylor Swift. We’ve gotten the heartbroken, lovesick teenage Taylor with albums like Speak Now and Fearless. The vengeful Taylor in Reputation. And more recently, the soft fall Tay with albums like folklore and evermore.
It’s not just the Midnights album that has sent fans into absolute pandemonium…it’s the impending promise of a stadium tour that is confirmed in the UK, meaning a US announcement can’t be far behind.
Teaming up with Spotify, Swift has been slowly releasing quips of lyrics from Swift’s new album. In a statement from Spotify, they shared:
“Listeners around the world have spent many a midnight with Taylor Swift. Through life’s triumphs, celebrations, and hardships, Taylor’s music and lyrics have always been a source of comfort when the clock strikes 12 and beyond. This is why Spotify has teamed up with Taylor to exclusively reveal lyrics from her new album Midnights around the world leading into the album’s release.”
More recently, Spotify took to Times Square to release new lyrics for Swift’s album. The lyrics? “I should not be left up to my own devices…” And now, in the state I’m in, neither should I!
Tickets for the US leg of Taylor’s Midnights tour are expected to go on sale around November, and I’m sure everyone will be fighting for the chance to see her live. More than likely, the best way to increase your chances is by purchasing an album off her website and receiving a presale code. This is the format she is using for her UK tour, so it would only make sense that the US is the same.
It’s about to be an expensive 2023…Rihanna, Beyonce, and Taylor all are anticipating stadium tours and I’m sure they aren’t the last. The likes of Billie Eilish were seen in the recording studio recently, so my pockets are already hurting.
With Midnights out Friday, we are ready for whatever Joe Alwyn-loving Taylor Swift has cooked up for us all. She just shared her release schedule and the credits list, which includes a very “chaotic” surprise. And don’t even get me started on the Karma theory …
I don’t know how the genius that is Taylor Swift can continuously shock the world and come up with new, creative ways to inspire us…but she does time and time again. A new era is upon us.
