A rep for Taylor Swift is slamming a rumor about her previous relationship to Joe Alwyn.
Taylor Swift is currently linked to Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce. The pair have been dating for a couple months now, and for the pop star, this is a change in pace from her previous relationships.
The star has always kept her personal life fairly private–except for when she talks about it in her music. But one relationship she kept especially quiet was hers with Joe Alwyn.
The couple’s relationship was so private, in fact, that it was never even confirmed where they first met. Still, fans think the song “Dress” on her album Reputation might refer to their first meeting being at the Met Gala in 2016.
Reports that Alwyn and Swift were dating didn’t emerge until May 2017, when a source close to the pair told The Sun that Swift and Alwyn had already been together for a few months.
“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,” the insider said at the time.
A month later, paparazzi finally got pictures of the couple. They were seen sitting on a balcony in Nashville, where Joe was allegedly meeting Taylor’s parents for the first time.
The couple continued to keep their relationship private, and in September 2018, Alwyn spoke about Swift publicly for the first time–but only to say that he didn’t want to talk about it.
“I’m aware people want to know about that side of things,” he told 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.”
In May 2019, engagement rumors began to circulate.
“Taylor’s friends are all talking about a proposal and how she really wants to marry Joe,” a source told Us Weekly at the time. “He’s her dream guy.”
While rumors of a secret engagement and marriage swirled for years, the couple never confirmed or denied any of it. Then, in April 2023, the pair officially called it quits.
At the time, Entertainment Tonight revealed that Swift and Alwyn quietly ended their relationship a few weeks prior. A source described their breakup as amicable and “not dramatic.”
Just two days after Swift and Alwyn’s breakup was reported, PEOPLE put out an in-depth article featuring information from multiple sources about what led to their final breakup. According to one source, Swift and Alwyn were no strangers to working through issues.
“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,” the source said, noting that they realized “ultimately, [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 continued. “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.”
A source also confirmed what many of Taylor’s fans always thought to be true: the star’s fame was simply too much for her boyfriend to handle.
Alwyn “has struggled with Taylor’s level of fame and the attention from the public,” the source claimed. “The differences in their personalities have also become harder to ignore after years together. They’ve grown apart.”
Multiple sources said they were considering marriage “as recently as a few months” before their breakup. But given everything else, “Taylor didn’t see them working out in the long run.”
Fast forward to November 2023, and Swift’s publicist Tree Paine decided to make a rare public statement to shut down the longstanding rumors that Swift and Alwyn were secretly married.
In her post, she took aim at unverified celebrity gossip outlet DeuxMoi, which has posted in the past that the couple might have tied the knot in secret.
“Enough is enough with these fabricated lies about Taylor from Deuxmoi,” she wrote on X. “There was NEVER a marriage or ceremony of ANY kind.”
“This is an insane thing to post,” the publicist continued. “It’s time for you to be held accountable for the pain and trauma you cause with posts like these.”
In the post Tree Pain is referring to, the gossip account wrote: “[Taylor] did have a ceremony in either 2020 or 2021 in the UK and it was described to me as a ‘marriage’ by more than one person.”
Still, they clarified that the “marriage” in question “was NEVER made legal.”
DeuxMoi doubled down on their statement, writing, “I will die on this hill! Put it on my tombstone! I have no reason to lie, I could give a s**t what she does!!!!”
“I’m sorry she didn’t tell you guys about it in a song but just because she doesn’t sing about something doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” they concluded.
After Swift’s publicists replied to their account and denied all of the rumors, DeuxMoi did issue an apology–but they didn’t exactly take much accountability. Instead they pointed fingers at publicists for making money for lying.
“Well I make zero dollars from lying… can publicists say the same?” the account wrote on their Instagram Story over Tree’s tweet. “Either way, I apologize to Taylor.”
As for Taylor’s current relationship, things are much more public this time around. Because of how much publicity her relationship with Travis Kelce has been, it seems like Alwyn was the one who wanted their union to be private.
A source brought Alwyn up while discussing how Swift is adjusting to being in a relationship where her partner is more comfortable being public.
“With Taylor’s ex Joe, she was so private,” the source explained. “They’d never go outside and walk around together. They just stayed at her Nashville compound or her Rhode Island house. With Travis, she’s more free and able to share her full life and she loves it.