International pop sensation Taylor Swift and British actor Joe Alwyn have broken up, as per reports in ET Online and People. Swift, the 12-time Grammy Award-winner, is currently in the middle of her Eras Tour, which heads to Tampa, Florida next week. Dates are scheduled through early August, and a five-night run at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, with international engagements “to be announced.”
When ET Online broke the story on Saturday night, they wrote that the split occurred “a few weeks ago.” A source said that the breakup was “not dramatic,” and that “the relationship had just run its course.” The news sheds some light on why Alwyn, 32, has not been spotted at any of the 33-year-old Swift’s shows. The Eras Tour began in mid-March at State Farm Stadium outside of Phoenix, Arizona.
V.F. has reached out to both Swift and Alwyn for further comment.
As recently as this January, Alwyn was joking around with the press about a possible engagement with the diamond-selling artist. “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,” he said, before adding, “I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn’t say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn’t say.”
Considering the level of Swift’s fame, the relationship between the couple has always been relatively private. It is believed that the first couple met at the Met Gala in May 2016. (Swift decoders point to the 2017 song “Dress” as a clue, as it features the lyric “Flashback to when you met me/your buzzed cut and my hair bleached,” which lines up with the pair’s ‘dos at the time.) That fall, Swift attended the premiere of the Ang Lee film Billy Lynn’s Longtime Walk, in which Alwyn starred, at the Arclight in Los Angeles. Paparazzi shots of the two as an apparent item didn’t emerge until summer 2017. In September 2018, Alwyn talked about Swift during an interview for the first time, but to say “I prefer to talk about work.”
Earlier this year, Swift’s video for “Lavender Haze” included what many interpreted as a reference to Alwyn with an image of their zodiac signs, and at roughly the same time, Alwyn uploaded a pic of Swift’s cat Meredith to his Instagram stories. But now, just two-and-a-half months later, we have this news.
People noted that, beginning on March 31 in Arlington, Texas, Swift changed the setlist of her tour to include “The 1,” a breakup song. It replaced “Invisible String,” which focuses on two soulmates.
While Swift continues performing to sold out arenas this year, Alwyn will next be seen in Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’s new project AND, which costars Margaret Qualley, Jesse Plemons, and Emma Stone. He’s also been announced as playing Laertes in an upcoming film version of Hamlet starring Riz Ahmed and Morfydd Clark.
