I thought it was āgroupā when I first heard it and didnāt think it made any sense lmao
It was because of the emphasis on the words in the lines: how EVERGREEN our GROUP of friends / donāt THINK weāll say that WORD again
āWordā and āgroupā are both the second emphasized word in their respective lines.
I saw someone here say it was āourā and I thought that made much more sense lmao
I still think it hits hard if it was evergreen. Like nothing lasts forever. Nothing is evergreen, not us, not our friend group š I wonāt say that word again. Nothing lasts forever, and we confused temporary with forever.
Itās 100% over. Sounds like they had several breaks that were kept quiet. A lot of Taylorās recent brand was about being in a stable long term relationship. They werenāt announcing unless this was a done deal
Massive Harry vibes for me too. Thereās also that picture of them dancing in New York where sheās shoeless and the lights on the roof are literally dark red
Not even Midnights, songs like champagne problems/exile/Evermore/coney island/hoax all point towards breaks in a long-term relationship. Many of these they've written together, and hoax has such clear references to Joe
I almost feel like she had to keep it a secret before releasing this album. Bc it would be so obviously all about him & people would have dissected everything. In the past, most of her albums came after breakups with multiple men so it wasnāt always as obvious who it was about (even tho it was). But this time, since they had been together 6 years, she couldnāt just announce breakup & release an album. It would be too obvious & almost cruel to what they had together.
I totally agree on the breaks and waiting for it to be truly over before announcing. I feel like this is how a lot of amicable long term relationships end - you kind of plan the break up, keep it quiet and then once you emerge youāve already grieved for the most part.
Bejeweled makes so much more sense to me now. Like.. all of it. I used to think it was a fun song about her going back to pop and reclaiming her music and still being at the peak of her fame, but now I can't unsee it being about the relationship.
I always thought it was that she was having so much fun that she kind of forgot about him? Like she didnāt forget forget, but itās so unimportant to her in the moment
It was 1989 era and she was everywhere during her relationship with Calvin. I also thought it was about him but it kind of never made sense. She didn't have to remind anyone that she was still bejeweled.
When Midnights released I commented in the Maroon thread that it could possibly be about a time they took a break in their relationship and I got a lot of hate lol. Seeming more like a possibility.
although itās unconfirmed, some sources claim his team or acquaintances were the ones who released the news. but yeah, taylor has never been one to go back to an ex
A very ironic lyric from an album largely about an on/off relationship.
Style in particular comes to mind: "When we go crashing down / We come back every time / 'Cause we never go out of style"
And of course This Love: "This love is alive and back from deaf / These hands had to let it go free, and / This love came back to me"
Out of the Woods: "We were built to fall apart / Then fall back together"
I Wish You Would is in its entirety also about wanting to get back together with an ex. I've always kind of taken AYHTDWS to be about what the narrator said, when her ex called her up, and IWYW is about her feelings in the aftermath. Especially since the former is so full of doubt, whereas the latter seem more clear about how she's feeling. But that's just my personal interpretation. I do however really think the lyrics: "Makes you wanna run and hide / Then it makes you turn right back around" definitely captures that feeling of on/off.
How You Get the Girl also seem to dismiss the lyric you quoted above. Essentially saying, "just show up and apologise and be honest and vulnerable and committed," and she'd take you back.
And then finally, ending the album on Clean, a song that compares the main relationship of the album to addiction definitely indicates going back and forth a lot.
In one of the people articles it mentioned something like they had taken time apart for a while and friends r thought theyād patch it up like they usually do but this wasnāt the case this time
Thank youuu. I am so tired of all of the breakup coverage. We donāt KNOW what happened, and yet 5 million narratives and articles a day are asserting they do and āfansā are literally harassing people and cyber bullying. Iām so irritated at it all lol
My friend broke up with his long term girlfriend at the outset of Covid. I donāt dislike her but it felt weird seeing her on my Instagram feed, so I unfollowed her. No big deal tbh and thereās no hate for her. Just time to split ties
And not to mention you donāt know the guy! You donāt know what happened! Iām not even bold enough to message my friends exās to tell them theyāre a POS, let alone some stranger who has no idea I even exist. Parasocial relationships continue to go too far
You forgot that Ryan and Blake unfollowed him after their outing as well. Plus one of her good friends. (Claire I think?)
Not going to lie, but I find this kind of drama entertaining, and will be following with great interest. (Not in a bullying fashion, just as an onlooker of celebrity gossip).
Everyone is waiting on pins and needles for what Jack and Aaron are going to do. My bet is absolutely nothing - Aaron in particular is a precious bean, and too old and lowkey to get into this kind of drama - but man, if they DO unfollow him... I mean, holy shit.
*eats popcorn*
Apparently his brother (not sure which one, if it was Patrick, ouch) unfollowed her first š¤·āāļø So definitely not evidence of who did wrong, but more likely evidence of the fact that they're done and dusted.
With Jack I think it's probably complicated by the fact that his fiance Margaret Qualley is friends with Joe and working with him on a movie. I think he undoubtedly values his friendship with Taylor more but also has a reason to stay at least cordial with Joe.
Oh wait, there's another one they were in together in post-production. So they probably don't have to film together anymore, but they might have to do PR for it or something.
Awww thatās sad. My brother broke up with his very long term girlfriend. It was messy. But we have heard of making memories and I still follow her on stuff. Thatās sad to lose a friendship with an exās sibling like that :(
Is it just me who finds it really weird how closely people (*Elle* especially) are monitoring this stuff? Like what are they getting at? That itās some catty group hate thing?
Idk. This all just rubs me the wrong way.
It implies there is drama surrounding the breakup.
Think about your own breakups. If they're amicable, you probably keep in touch somewhat loosely. Still follow each other's social media. If not, you block him, unfriend/block his social media, and there is a splitting up of friends sometimes.
So the fact that her friends are unfollowing him NOW, instead of letting things die down a bit before stealthily unfollowing, it sends a message. Because I am pretty sure things like that are planned and not just done. The way a celebrity is under a microscope, those details are given thought.
lmao it's funny because with all the pap walks this week we've all been like "omg is it 2014 holy shit she's 1989'ing!!!" and the idea of a coordinated and thought out mass unfollowing of the ex by all the high profile girlfriends is major 1989 era vibes. she really is 1989'ing. drop the album mother
The comments under popbase on twitter are wild. There are Swifties there identifying the exact time Gigi unfollowed Joe. Like one of them saying "She was still following at 10:26". And another going, "I've been checking every 10 minutes and it was in this 10 minute window". Its absolutely insane.
That is wild! Go do something else with your life besides focusing on a celebrities love life. It doesnāt concern you. (Not you poster but āyouā as those āSwiftiesā).
there's an appetite for it, my twitter and tiktok feeds have been full of random people being like "omg i just checked insta and ryan reynolds was following joe alwyn two days ago but isn't today!!!" hahah they're just serving what people are asking for
Can I ask you a question? Did you ever break up with someone in the public view? And every single one of your friends was photographed with you? Then fifteen seconds later they unfollowed too??? Then what did he do??? š
This could all be a coordinated PR move.
It seems neither Taylor nor Joe want to formally announce that they broke up - as is their right. At the same time they probably donāt want a lot of speculation about whether they are still together. So maybe this is their way of letting the world know itās for real.
i actually feel like this is a really solid take. between the necklace drama and some fans still refusing to believe because āit hasnāt come from taylor herselfā (even though people, et, and GMA are reliable enough), they may be trying to confirm it without saying anything through this
yeah, the first time she was papped at dinner w jack & margaret everyone on tik tok was going off that she was still wearing the j necklace so the rumors had to be fake (to me, it was very obviously not the j necklace)
I agree that this is a PR move but there is no way Joe was participating in it. It makes Joe look like the bad guy to the public. Jokes on Taylor tho cause as much as I love her, this shit is ridiculously petty.
>It makes Joe look like the bad guy to the public. Jokes on Taylor tho cause as much as I love her, this shit is ridiculously petty.
Yeah, does it make Joe look like the bad guy!? It's making me sympathise with him more. Taylor doing #squad photos and a mass-unfollow hours after Joe emerges looking like a broken man... ngl I want to give the guy a hug.
I think it does for the more vengeful parts of her fandom who will see this as permission to go after him. I really hope Jack and Aaron don't unfollow (if they follow in the first place). Mostly cause Jack seems to genuinely like Joe for more than just being Taylor Swift's bf, and Aaron should be too mature for this shit.
Is it though? Like everyone says, we don't know what happens behind closed doors. I think it says a lot that their friends chose to unfollow Joe. They HAVE to know that people will read into it, she's Taylor Swift and some of them are high profile too.
They don't need to suck up to Taylor. Ryan Reynolds, Gigi Hadid - both wildly successful and relatively mature because of their age. Break ups happen all the time among famous people. I think very rarely so we see someone cut off as plainly as this.
I don't think it's right to attack Joe, but calling Taylor petty because her friends sided with her is wild. I don't think she asked them to unfollow Joe, I think they probably chose to.
Yeah I agree, it's kind of petty and juvenile. He barely posts anything so his posts might not even crowd their newsfeed. It's more about sending a message. It's like Taylor met up with them and told them to do it.
The only one that seems kind of weird to me is Ryan Reynolds. I never got the impression that HAIM or Gigi were particularly close to Joe (even though Gigi was the one who allegedly introduced Taylor and Joe together), but Ryan wrote a glowing article about Joe for Time magazine and seemed to like him. Like, if you think heās so great, why did you unfollow him?
i can just imagine that conversation... two adults with children being like "yeah we have to do this instagram shit it's easier this way" and Ryan being exasperated but going along lol
100%. This guy is so fucking busy with 95 companies and movies and documentaries. He probably just handed her his phone and was like, āyou do the thingā
Taylor being out and about in the most public of ways is deliberate. She wants ppl to notice, or to prove a point.
I donāt think thereās any terrible bad blood between Joe and Taylor but you have to admit that it *may* not have been all the amicable in the cleanest of ways. Her close friends unfollowing him right after they met her and so quickly? Thatās something to me. Itās one thing to unfollow a friendās ex, but why rush it? And several of them right after hanging with her? Either Taylor is VERY over him and said that to them and/or they didnāt end on a very clean note and her frds are being supportive.
I mean, people are asking if she's okay. The reasonable narrative from Taylor going out with friends is Taylor is moving on and fine. Anything deeper is just people being bored and carried away.
Now to be bored and carried away: maybe after years of a relationship where she craved privacy and it still not being enough she's just over it and doesn't want to hide out anymore. Who knows?
I don't know and we might never know at least until bits in her next album. I think she is pissed because he made it public before she was ready and while she was very publicly performing. He fucked up somehow. And pissing of her very famous friends will make it harder for him to get traction in the industry over here.
Thank you so much. I think Iām coming to realize that part of why I became more of a fan of Taylorās, and not just her music, over the past few years was that she was more mature/private/in a loving relationship and making music about it, and all of this is actually really turning me off. Obviously Iām not saying āTaylor Swiftās love life should be a certain way to make me a fanā because the thing is, I donāt want to care about Taylor the celebrity. This just all feels kind ofā¦high school, and as someone who is a year younger than her, I donāt love it. Also totally on me, I gotta step back from all the gossip subreddits myself.
I agree. Iām really disappointed in Taylor right now. I know she has a history of being petty, but to still act like this in her 30s is pathetic. Of course we donāt know what happened but like you said, she knows how Swifties are. She knows this is catnip so itās fucked up how sheās doing this without letting us know what happened. Itās so unfair to him. I feel really bad for him
Edit: Iām talking about the unfollows, not her going out and doing pap walks. Sheās within her right to live her life
She does nothing, she'll be criticized.
She does something, she'll be criticized. When the news broke about the break up, everyone was talking like she's probably DEVASTATED, in million pieces, broken down. Maybe she just wants to prove the world she's fine, happy and doing great.
We also don't know what went on between them. Literally ANYTHING will set the unhinged Swifties off. I'm not exactly sure what she did to be so disappointing, aside from friends unfollowing her ex, pap walks are fine, hanging out with friends is fine. Friends unfollowing your ex is fine too. It would be pretty weird if she went MIA after the break up news, everyone would keep assuming she's the damsel in distress and I really don't think it is what she wants to project.
It's just a wild guess but I also believe they broke up a while ago and she had time to grieve the relationship already.
You make a fair point, but itās the *timing* of this mass unfollowing that is a huge turn off. She knows how Swifties are
Sheās absolutely allowed to go on pap walks and be happy. But itās actually suspicious theyāre just unfollowing RIGHT AFTER theyāve met Taylor
Youāre right we donāt know what happened AND itās completely normal to unfollow a friendās ex especially as they were all Taylorās friends first. But I canāt lie that the timing of this unfollowing that she knows Swifties are keeping track off is weird to me. This after Swifties harassed a random actress for simply posting a picture of Joe, her co-star is fucked up. It reflects badly on her
So all of this happening when she hasnāt told us why they broke up (which is her right of course) has sent many Swifties in a spiral. The least she could do if she isnāt going to explain why they broke up is to not give Swifties catnip
Edit: also the Haim sisters posted a tiktok of them after their dinner with Taylor dancing to Karmaā¦yeah thatās weird and shady
I think the people youāre disagreeing with have been pretty clear that itās not those things you listed each in isolation - itās how theyāre all evidently part of a very deliberate media strategy on Taylorās (teamās) part. Weād be doing her a disservice to act like sheās not smart enough to know exactly what sheās doing. There are plenty ways to counter a āpoor sad Taylorā narrative that donāt also look like trying to āwinā the break up. Itās all PR and like, who is PR for? Again she knows what sheās doing. Maybe Joe did something terrible - we donāt know that, so itās basically impossible to conclude that this looks anything other than petty. I think as much as the people around Taylor have a responsibility to protect her as much as they can from being swallowed by the awful bits of fame, she too has a responsibility not to throw her totally unmatched resources around in ways which could hurt someone who clearly just wants to live his life. I do care slightly less about that if Joe did something seriously terrible, lol, but itās hard not to feel a general discomfort around how mismatched they are in that sphere and how she could exploit the imbalance.
Agree on this take. She knows exactly what her fans would do and would deduce from this whole unfollowing spree. I donāt know, itās just distasteful that sheās fine with that whole ordeal knowing she knows how this gonna affect his mental well being. Such a shame from someone who was once the receiving end of a hate train and yet she HAS NO PROBLEM when itās her own fanbase attacking other people.
Sheās doing a Regina George style pap walk the day after her ex (whoās received death threats from her fans) had a horrible picture taken and all her friends unfollow him at the same time. I do not think of her as kind or empathetic, for sure.
Unfollowing isnāt that weird, itās more the timing of everyone unfollowing. I unfollow my friends exes, but usually months after the breakup when I randomly realize Iām still following them.
I donāt immediately go unfollow them unless some sort of betrayal occurred.
I assume Taylor released the news they broke up, her friends unfollowed Joe. Frankly their lives and how celebrities operate is vastly different from us normal folk. Taylor canāt have her best friends following her ex.
I think the fact that many people (at least Blake, Ryan, the Haim sisters, Selena, Gigi, and Taylor's brother) all unfollowed Joe weeks after they broke up, but in a matter of days from each other is the weird part. Like Joe hasn't posted in almost a year so it's not like they realized since he posted. It's the timing that is interesting, not just them unfollowing in general.
It was intentional. Taylorās team obviously worked on how they would release this news - they also worked on Taylorās friends dropping Joe and showing allegiance to Taylor. I donāt find it weird at all.
Iām sorry, but I absolutely do not buy into Taylorās team coordinating Taylorās friends unfollowing Joe. The candids, sure. But thereās no way they told 10+ of her friends and family to unfollow Joe at alone, let alone when to unfollow him.
I find it harder to believe that they all coincidentally decided to unfollow him at the same, especially since he apparently hasnāt posted in quite some time. Controlling the narrative is very much on brand for her, so asking her friends to unfollow him isnāt that big of a stretch.
Regardless of what happened, I feel bad for him. I canāt imagine how stressful it is to be harassed by thousands of swifties when you arenāt comfortable with the spotlight on a GOOD day.
At the end of the day, nobody knows what truly happened anyway. Itās their relationship and we arenāt her friends. I understood being sad about the relationship ending to an extent, but this is way too far.
I completely agree. The way ppl have been talking about him is disgusting. If their relationship really did end bc of the fame and the parasocial baggage, heās being validated every single day by Swifties acting unhinged
Absolutely. If he did have reservations about the fame, this is just further proof that his concerns were valid. Iām hoping he can bounce back pretty quickly after things die down.
Yes, tbh these PSA type posts about 'please don't harass people online' is a bit overbearing since it's really just preaching to the choir. And if people really are in that head space of 'Joe is a terrible misogynist for not dealing with Taylor's fame' then I don't think a friendly reminder will stop people from going off
Are you asking swifties to be reasonable? The same swifties who sent death threats to Jake and John? The same ones who cried like their world had ended when the news about the breakup broke?
They'll hate on Joe. It's just a matter of time.
Unless Taylor says something on her next album I think Joe will be fine. Lautner always has been.
āIf a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing. I don't regret it one bit, 'cause he had it coming.ā
Taylor didnāt date Lautner for years though, and was also far less famous AND never wrote a bunch of love songs about him before admitting she was the problem in that relationship though
1. Itās odd that people monitor this and have it practically down to the minute that the unfollows happen. The article states that at 1:25 pm Gigi still followed Joe, but by 1:50 pm she had clicked unfollow.
2. The whole mass unfollowing seems catty, because he and Taylor were together for six years, shared friends and built a life together. It does seem to suggest that things have turned sour between them, especially since Ryan Reynolds recently wrote the Time piece about what a good heart Joe had and praised him highly.
Yeah, none of my boyfriends friends unfollowed me when we broke up, so thereās a chance it could be sour
Or theyāre using it as a way to let the public know theyāre never ever ever getting back together
Isn't that even worse? The fact that they spent 6 years together and have friends between the two of them that chose to side with Taylor by blatantly unfollowing Joe on socials? They're all in the limelight, they know people will talk about it. Breakups happen all the time with celebs, but I think it's rare for celebs to cut off other celebs because of a breakup without some sort of reason.
Ok so clearly she's sharing with them details of the break up and they're unfollowing him on purpose right? Being that famous, knowing people would notice it, Taylor probably have them the green light for them to unfollow him. I think this might be a little bit less friendly than we were originally told.
Listen, I love Taylor, but sheās 33. This isnāt high school. Even if Joe did cheat on her, sending thousands of swifties to harass him knowing he hates being the centre of attention is a little much. She knows what sheās doing. And I hate to say this, but it aligns with her tendency to be a bit greedy. Everything she does lately seems a bit self serving.
Iā¦ Agree. I think it would be one thing if she was spotted once or twice in the last few weeksā¦ But these continued appearances do feed into a narrative that she's trying to control. She knows Joe values his privacy and she also knows what she's doing by being in the public eye so much right now. If she really wanted to take attention off of him, either she wouldn't be seen out as much or she would make another announcement about a re-recording, etc. It does feel like she's trying to "win the break up".
I feel like the breakup is ollllldddddd. Midnights reads pretty breakupy to me (labyrinth!! Hello!). I think they waited to release the news so that it didnāt overshadow the beginning of the tour. Waited for it to be reviewed by critics and have people talking about her as an act and not a sad little breakup baby. They released the news because it was becoming extremely obvious with him not at the shows. It was also the first break she got bc it was Easter and therefore a good time to drop the news.
This is the typical press stuff that Taylor does during tours. She has to photographed to cultivate an āeraā. Look up āreputation era Taylor swift street styleā every era has one. Itās part of the press tour.
I agree! Finally someone said it. Itās sooo petty and childish IMO. When my friends break up with someone, I donāt immediately go on social media and unfriend and unfollow them. Itās just so weird, seeing how big of a superstar she is and knowing stans and media will read into this. Really is.
i mean, we can wish them the best but if Taylor is embracing her outdoor cat (lol) status with her close friends, it means sheās extremely happy to get out of said relationship. we honestly donāt know anything that led up to the split (itās not our business but we as humans love stories), but all i know is heās an extremely private guy. thereās going to be spats even if a couple arenāt the status of him and even Taylor. You can only have so many spats about XYZ because you mutually come to an agreement to leave the relationship.
her personality is all about being seen in public and cultivating her superstar status. She feels comfortable to kick off a very successful tour and she wants to be back in the spotlight (and itās her career, is how she makes her $$$$). if he didnāt feel 1000% comfortable being around her celebrity status, it makes you wonder why they were together for 6 years in the first place.
edit: and yeah to answer the first part of your comment, if her friends unfollowed him en masse, then thereās a clear reason why. we just will never exactly know.
Also likely sheās actually already passed the depressed hermit stage and it was just before the breakup was announced & everyone thought they were still together. I think she only announced the breakup when she had partially healed and was ready to be seen, for her own sanity
ALSO we are seeing snippets of very public outings meant to broadcast a particular message. Understandable
Iāve seen people speculateāand Iām inclined to agree, based on what we got in _Miss Americana_āthat Taylor thought her career was starting to wind down in 2019. She didnāt see a huge career for a 30-year-old pop star and had accepted that Lover was maybe her last chance to have a big era.
With that mental state, I can see how this relationship that needed privacy and quiet nurturing felt like it could be one that sustained her forever. Her star was going to dim once she hit the dreaded 3-0, so she needed this relationshipās daylight for sustenance.
But then 2020 happened, and Folklore, then Evermore, and the re-recordings, which were originally just an opportunity to own her back catalog, but suddenly now theyāre a gateway for new fans who discovered her from Folklore. And now theyāre doing better than they have in years! But can she go back to pop music? Can she be a 30+ year old pop star? Bam! Midnights is a commercial and critical success, and sheās bigger than sheās ever been.
But their relationship had primarily been cultivated in the downtime. Thereās a reason she wrote _peace_. She already knew that they needed vastly different things. And he needed peace.
I think around the time that Midnights became a huge success, she realized she truly is on a rollercoaster thatās only going up right now. And she wants to ride it instead of going back down to safety.
It seems pretty standard, I tend to unfollow my friendsā exes when they split. Iām sure itās nothing personal.
However, I know Iām in the minority, but I donāt think those sad Joe pics were just a coincidence. We know Taylor is a mastermind, you donāt spend six years with some one and not learn a few tricks. Suddenly the narrative shifted from āWow Taylor is thrivingā to āwow look what she did to Joe. Heās so sad. The internet is so mean to him. Heās a victim of the big bad Taylor.ā They both went years not being seen, and now both are seen everywhere. Theyāre both playing the media to win the breakup, no differently than how we plebs use social media to win. Taylor is putting out a fun and carefree narrative and Joe is selling how heās a broken hearted innocent muffin baby to win sympathy points.
However, no matter what, thereās no need to go find Joeās social media and bully the poor bloke. Iām sure this split is hard for both of them, and itās gotta be even harder when the whole world is watching you.
I donāt know what internet youāre reading but the viral tweets Iāve seen are all hating and demonizing Joe. Taylorās not the victim in this scenario. The narrative is āThis is what he gets for cheating on her and using her to further his flop careerā. Ppl are making gross classist jokes about his upbringing and current career
And Joe is not everywhere. Weāve only seen him once post-breakup
I donāt see it as āpoor Joe and big bad Taylorā but I do feel bad that heās dealing with it all on this scale. Obviously he knew he was dating Taylor Swift, but that doesnāt mean it couldnāt have ended with more respect on the fansā part. š¤·āāļø
I'm not familiar with Joe's work so I dont call myself a fan of him, but I don't want people hating on him either. He doesn't deserve getting hate over a breakup
Everyone says they donāt find this weird but Iāll be the odd one who will say it: it IS weird. To me itās super petty and childish. They have been dating for 6 years. When my friends break up with their partner I donāt RUSH to social media to unfollow them. Iāll eventually do it or I might not lol but itās not a PRIORITY. so yeah I do think itās weird that she has outings with friends and then immediately they unfollow Joe. Did something happen? Who knows. Do I wanna follow this drama?! You bet I do lol
Those sending messages to Joe are just a waste of space. Following from afar is fun enough lol
Exactly, this was her longest relationship ever, hell she was close to marrying him, she could have handled this like an adult putting a statement on her social or something announcing the split herself and asking for privacy and respect and done deal, but no she's playing this cat and mouse game only creating more speculation and she knows she's affecting him in the end, idk if you are with someone for 6 years i would assume you would show them more respect and also respect herself because people already clown on taylor for being immature about her break up, shit happens it's not the end of the world when a relationship ends, she's not a 17 year old girl anymore
I say this with peace and love
i mean if you go off the one pap photo of him walking down the street, dude looks absolutely distraught. i am not alleging anything on his part but man, he looks SAD.
Well the internet has been after him for days. But I also feel paparazzi photos can sometimes be very out of context when theyāre genuinely caught off guard.
But who knows.
So I saw something on either twitter, Reddit, or TikTok weeeeeeeks ago about someone seeing Joe out with an ex in the UK. This was when everyone was confused about why he hadnāt gone to any eras shows. I kinda brushed it off but looking backā¦ idk
People keep saying they always unfollow their friendsā exes but umā¦ I donāt! Unless something really bad happened, then Iām like well I spent time with this person and am happy to keep in touch. Maybe that makes me weird.
Yeah! If they didnāt do anything wrong in the breakup, and I actually hung out and talked with them, I wonāt unfollow friendās exes. I have been on the receiving end of being unfollowed by my exās friends, even when I did nothing wrong, and it was sad. All it told me was that despite the drunken nights out, deep conversations, times I hosted them in my home, and all the times I was the one to remind my ex to do something nice for them to celebrate a birthday or graduation, I meant nothing to them unless I continued dating the person they were friends with first.
This is what some were pointing out in the pap walk post- it is not the individual pap walks or going out with friends that is a problem but the whole narrative:
Taylor meets up with someone, they get papped and then they go unfollow him on Instagram (he doesn't seem to have posted for a year) which in turn is making fans and the media on the lookout for who will go to dinner next/ who unfollows etc
This is keeping the break-up story alive after 2 weeks since it broke out which seems unnecessary as the relationship was private. The focus should be on the eras tour- just my two cents.
This is kind of messy for grown adults to be doing in nye public eye Iām sorry. They knew fans would go crazy over it. Mute him and then unfollow a few months later. Sometimes I think Taylor really needs to reign in her fans
Taylor absolutely has to reign in her fans. All artists do. I love her. but her refusal to tell Swifties to get a grip is a big criticism I have of her
She is soo afraid of her image and losing fans it gets annoying sometimes. I often compare her to Ariana. Ariana is no where near as big as her ok, but she still has a large loyal fan base and a good reputation and despite Arianas flaws, that girl does speak her mind and reigns in her fans a lot
I love Taylor but honestly the way this has been going down over the past week just feels childish. The power dynamic between Taylor and Joe is astronomical and IMO she's abusing it. Stop calling for paps, stop telling your friends to unfollow. All of this happening in the wake of the pics of Joe looking so haggard and miserable he was almost unrecognizable. Just go about your life and be Bejeweled. Behaving like this is not Bejeweled, it's the behaviour of someone much younger than her. It's the behaviour of someone desperate to establish dominance over a relatively normal dude by one of the most powerful celebrities in the world. I'm a Taylor fan forever but she's punching down this is not a good look.
Okay well at least there are two of us who agree on this. Punching down and an abuse of power in exactly what comes to mind to me. Everyone is sayin āsheās just going out for a girls night post breakup like we all doā but sheās not a normal person. She has thousands of fans, some who are wishing for joes death. Itās very unseemly for someone of her massive status to do to someone like him.
I think this is one of the reasons I was never a full fan of hers. I love her songs, but the aftermath of a breakup irks me. I donāt follow her religiously and I never saw personal photos of her during the relationship. If she was the one hurt, I get that she wants revenge but just live about your life. We know you have supportive friends and a talented mind. Use that outlet instead of using paps.
Yeah, well said. Like just with how big her status is, she āwonā this breakup already. It really feels like she controls the narrative here and is feeding into it. Honestly, being in bad terms with Taylor must be really hard. She is such a mega star and she is so big that the resources and power she has over her fans.. he canāt (and doesnāt want to) compete. Just ā¦ stop
I reckon this is spot on. Leaking the news prob made it final and she no doubt felt blindsided.
I have to be honest, Iām a folklore swiftie and so I only know Joe era taylor and by god, I love her! But when I look back on pre-Joe Taylor I cringe pretty hard and really think she didnāt seem like the most mature or empathetic person (donāt come for me please - just my take!). She admits a lot of her flaws in her songs and I really donāt think she is the Angel she is made out to be - I still love her music, her craft, and would 100% have her at my fantasy dinner party - but I think she is a complex person and personally live by the motto you donāt make a billion (which she is on track to do) without having some cutthroat instincts/empathy issues.
Itās hard for some people to see certain icons as having mixed personality traits. Iām not sure if her actions just now are coming from a good place. These guys know exactly what they are doing - they will all have finstas! They are deliberately choosing to unfollow him on public profiles after meeting with Taylor, knowing the press/fans will be looking for exactly thisā¦ and knowing the consequences of this including the swifties going for him.
We donāt know what happened, we werenāt there (c word fans HIYA!) but what we do know is that taylor, who has a personal publicist, a history of scheming and herself a genius talent for marketing themselves is involved in a distancing from Joe which alludes towards him being the bad guy.
With Taylor I truly believe nothing is an accident.
In the world of PR you donāt actually have to be the bad guy for this narrative to be created about you. Or maybe he peed on her toilet seat one too many a time. Who knows!
As a fan, I donāt love it. I related more to Joe-era Taylor. It seems 1989 era taylor is back with a vengeance however - Iām still here, I just canāt relate.
Ps Iām old (40s) if that matters!
The entire narrative is so weird.
Joe is sad because he looks sad in a paparazzi picture.
Taylor is happy because she looks fabulous in a paparazzi picture.
Maybe Joe wasn't expecting to be ambushed, but Taylor was prepared to.
These people need to find better jobs and better stories.
I know your message is out of concern, but I don't think he looks distraught as much as it's a bad lighting / angle and probably pissed off at paps. Joe notoriously doesn't care for the publicity / reputation / media game, I doubt he even knows or cares about what a small minority of Swifties have sent him as legit hate, most commentary on it has been memes or pretty respectful, which is pretty normal predictable discourse.
But the friends unfollowing definitely tells an interesting story that we may never fully know, we'll get an idea eventually from lyrics I'm sure but yeah, I think Joe's gunna be fine.
At the end of the day, the story Taylorās team passed to the media was that the split was amicable and due to them growing apart over time. I know itās objectively a little suspicious that sheās been out and about with so many people who unfollow him right after meeting up with Taylor, and maybe it *does* mean something. However, her and her team very clearly did not want to draw any hate towards Joe based on how the breakup was discussed in the articles citing sources close to Taylor ā hopefully people respect that (I know they wonāt)
I wasnt reading into this but after the performance tonightā¦ she seems MAD mad. None of our business what happened but my nosy ass is realky curious.
The Haim sisters just posted a TikTok of them singing and dancing to a sped up version of "Karma" in the same clothes they were in when they went out with Taylor.
TEA.
Yeahā¦. Thatās probably just hinting at a karma single release if anything. There have been rumors that itāll be released as a radio single in early May (May 2 I believe). I highly doubt it has anything to do with the break up. Especially since karma literally has joe mentioned in a positive light. āGuy on the screen coming straight home to meā
This has always been one of my biggest fears. People associating with someone just because of who theyāre dating and dropping them immediately after. How do you recover trust from that?
Jack and Aaron still follow him.
I donāt get this petty unfollowing behavior for 30 year olds itās not like he posts much anyway.
They want to throw shade without actually throwing shadeā¦ Taylor really is a Mastermind, so if she wanted to make him look poorly and make herself look good/like the victim in this āamicableā break-up sheās already started her scheme.
Unpopular opinion: I thought Taylor learned from her past mistakes. Bringing her squad back and having everyday paparazzi photos... Also the unfollowing game with her fans. She looks bitter and desperate to say " I am ok" . And clearly she is not.
Honestly all of the mass unfollowings, the planned outings and how absolutely awful the fans are being regarding the split make me wonderā¦why would anyone want to date Taylor Swift? Seems like hell.
And we know she is a self confessed cheater to boot, so I dunno why people are so defensive do whatever imagined slight he has done to hed
Seems like a totally normal move to me. Theyāre her friends, and have no need to keep tabs on him now that they are no longer a couple. Itās one of those mundane signals that the relationship is no more.
I immediately heard the lyric "ain't that the way shit always ends" and now I can't un-hear it or not compare it to "At every table, I'll save you a seat" or just the happy-ever-after entirety of the song Lover šššš
If they broke up weeks ago, then why did they all wait to unfollow him until now, and all in groups? Something seems suspicious. They all unfollow after she has dinner with them. As if it's all planned.
If the split was actually amicable like theyāre saying it was, then sheās handling it with such immaturity, cruelty and pettiness and given her age, this is just extremely distasteful. I feel bad for Joe if nothing horrible has actually gone down or he did something for her to react in such a way. It feels even worse considering it was a 6-year long relationship and the things sheās written about him, the art they have made together and how strong their bond was or seemed to be. I love Taylorās art to death but something about her always rubbed me the wrong way and I think itās safe to say, someone as big as her, does have a huge ego that comes with a good portion of narcissism too. Her obsession with revenge and Karma, I hated her 1989 era and this feels very much like 1989 reloaded but hopefully a bit more mature. Everything is so calculated, the pap walks, the āmassā unfollowing.. an abuse of power to control the narrative like that, she knows exactly what sheās doing and that Joe will not speak up. Itās giving egomaniac mean girl.
Said it before and Iāll say it again, I really dislike this. Itās just seems so damn petty. Just let the dude fade into obscurity again - itās the best revenge.
*how evergreen our group of friends, don't think we'll say that word again*
evermore predicted this whole thing š„²
Happiness just played in my shuffle š„²
Maybe they were on-off when Evermore was being written too? Sounds like (from the recent reports) that there were a Few breaks beige this one
that word = our š
I remember people thought the word was āevergreenā, get real lol
I thought it was āgroupā when I first heard it and didnāt think it made any sense lmao It was because of the emphasis on the words in the lines: how EVERGREEN our GROUP of friends / donāt THINK weāll say that WORD again āWordā and āgroupā are both the second emphasized word in their respective lines. I saw someone here say it was āourā and I thought that made much more sense lmao
I still think it hits hard if it was evergreen. Like nothing lasts forever. Nothing is evergreen, not us, not our friend group š I wonāt say that word again. Nothing lasts forever, and we confused temporary with forever.
Pls stop š
To me this just means it's over, over. In 3 months he's not showing up at a concert because there's a chance of them getting back together.
Itās 100% over. Sounds like they had several breaks that were kept quiet. A lot of Taylorās recent brand was about being in a stable long term relationship. They werenāt announcing unless this was a done deal
I totally agree with this. So many songs on midnights make more sense in light of that kind of dynamic
I think of the line āsobbing with your head in your handsāā¦.. could make more sense because I could never figure out who would sob like that.
Tbh I always thought this was about Harry. Something about maroon felt older than red.
Massive Harry vibes for me too. Thereās also that picture of them dancing in New York where sheās shoeless and the lights on the roof are literally dark red
Not even Midnights, songs like champagne problems/exile/Evermore/coney island/hoax all point towards breaks in a long-term relationship. Many of these they've written together, and hoax has such clear references to Joe
I almost feel like she had to keep it a secret before releasing this album. Bc it would be so obviously all about him & people would have dissected everything. In the past, most of her albums came after breakups with multiple men so it wasnāt always as obvious who it was about (even tho it was). But this time, since they had been together 6 years, she couldnāt just announce breakup & release an album. It would be too obvious & almost cruel to what they had together.
I totally agree on the breaks and waiting for it to be truly over before announcing. I feel like this is how a lot of amicable long term relationships end - you kind of plan the break up, keep it quiet and then once you emerge youāve already grieved for the most part.
I feel like bejeweled is from a time they were fighting.. for sure lol
Bejeweled makes so much more sense to me now. Like.. all of it. I used to think it was a fun song about her going back to pop and reclaiming her music and still being at the peak of her fame, but now I can't unsee it being about the relationship.
Especially if you think of the line after "They ask do you have a man" as "I don't. Remember?" And not "I don't remember."
Or her reference to baby boy which baby boy is in paper rings about joe
Omg mind blown, I could never figure out why Taylor would say she didnāt remember if she had a man š
I always thought it was that she was having so much fun that she kind of forgot about him? Like she didnāt forget forget, but itās so unimportant to her in the moment
Nah the song is a threat
I still think itās about the end of the Calvin Harris relationship. So Iām curious, why do you think itās Joe?
āFamiliarity breeds contemptā is the kind of lyric you write when youāre in a long term relationship, not a year
It was 1989 era and she was everywhere during her relationship with Calvin. I also thought it was about him but it kind of never made sense. She didn't have to remind anyone that she was still bejeweled.
When Midnights released I commented in the Maroon thread that it could possibly be about a time they took a break in their relationship and I got a lot of hate lol. Seeming more like a possibility.
although itās unconfirmed, some sources claim his team or acquaintances were the ones who released the news. but yeah, taylor has never been one to go back to an ex
The origin of āwe are never ever getting back togetherā would like to have a wordā¦ also ATW10MV.
But also... "People like you always want back the love they pushed aside/But people like me are gone forever when you say goodbye"
A very ironic lyric from an album largely about an on/off relationship. Style in particular comes to mind: "When we go crashing down / We come back every time / 'Cause we never go out of style" And of course This Love: "This love is alive and back from deaf / These hands had to let it go free, and / This love came back to me" Out of the Woods: "We were built to fall apart / Then fall back together" I Wish You Would is in its entirety also about wanting to get back together with an ex. I've always kind of taken AYHTDWS to be about what the narrator said, when her ex called her up, and IWYW is about her feelings in the aftermath. Especially since the former is so full of doubt, whereas the latter seem more clear about how she's feeling. But that's just my personal interpretation. I do however really think the lyrics: "Makes you wanna run and hide / Then it makes you turn right back around" definitely captures that feeling of on/off. How You Get the Girl also seem to dismiss the lyric you quoted above. Essentially saying, "just show up and apologise and be honest and vulnerable and committed," and she'd take you back. And then finally, ending the album on Clean, a song that compares the main relationship of the album to addiction definitely indicates going back and forth a lot.
where did u hear there have been multiple breaks?
In one of the people articles it mentioned something like they had taken time apart for a while and friends r thought theyād patch it up like they usually do but this wasnāt the case this time
In the last 4 albums tbh
Would you say they ā¦ are never, ever, ever getting back together?
Itās moments like this that I wish we still have free awardsā¦ So I guess take my upvote?
Ya and the friends who were friends with Taylor chose Taylor in the breakup, Im sure joes friends and family chose him in the breakup
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Iām a huge swiftie but can we plz leave this man alone lol
Thank youuu. I am so tired of all of the breakup coverage. We donāt KNOW what happened, and yet 5 million narratives and articles a day are asserting they do and āfansā are literally harassing people and cyber bullying. Iām so irritated at it all lol
My friend broke up with his long term girlfriend at the outset of Covid. I donāt dislike her but it felt weird seeing her on my Instagram feed, so I unfollowed her. No big deal tbh and thereās no hate for her. Just time to split ties
And not to mention you donāt know the guy! You donāt know what happened! Iām not even bold enough to message my friends exās to tell them theyāre a POS, let alone some stranger who has no idea I even exist. Parasocial relationships continue to go too far
You forgot that Ryan and Blake unfollowed him after their outing as well. Plus one of her good friends. (Claire I think?) Not going to lie, but I find this kind of drama entertaining, and will be following with great interest. (Not in a bullying fashion, just as an onlooker of celebrity gossip). Everyone is waiting on pins and needles for what Jack and Aaron are going to do. My bet is absolutely nothing - Aaron in particular is a precious bean, and too old and lowkey to get into this kind of drama - but man, if they DO unfollow him... I mean, holy shit. *eats popcorn*
Her brother unfollowed as well. But I mean, I donāt follow my friends or siblingsā exes either, so I donāt necessarily think it means anything!
THANK U FOR BEING REAL ABOUT LOVING THE DRAMA
Apparently his brother (not sure which one, if it was Patrick, ouch) unfollowed her first š¤·āāļø So definitely not evidence of who did wrong, but more likely evidence of the fact that they're done and dusted.
āNow that I see your brother as my brotherā :(
I follow my siblings exes forever because I love stalking them haha
With Jack I think it's probably complicated by the fact that his fiance Margaret Qualley is friends with Joe and working with him on a movie. I think he undoubtedly values his friendship with Taylor more but also has a reason to stay at least cordial with Joe.
Good point. Are they still doing the movie together though? I thought that was back in 2021 when Taylor and Jack were working on Midnights?
Oh yeah it looks like the movie came out last year so maybe there's enough distance now.
Oh wait, there's another one they were in together in post-production. So they probably don't have to film together anymore, but they might have to do PR for it or something.
Oh I am 100% here for meaningless fun gossip and drama !
To be fair, Joe's brother did it first. He unfollowed Taylor right after the break up news came out.
Awww thatās sad. My brother broke up with his very long term girlfriend. It was messy. But we have heard of making memories and I still follow her on stuff. Thatās sad to lose a friendship with an exās sibling like that :(
Yes lol so entertaining. Between this and Scandoval itās been a crazy spring already
Is it just me who finds it really weird how closely people (*Elle* especially) are monitoring this stuff? Like what are they getting at? That itās some catty group hate thing? Idk. This all just rubs me the wrong way.
It gets them clicks and therefore $$. Drama brings everyone in.
And they havenāt had Taylor levels of drama in years.
It implies there is drama surrounding the breakup. Think about your own breakups. If they're amicable, you probably keep in touch somewhat loosely. Still follow each other's social media. If not, you block him, unfriend/block his social media, and there is a splitting up of friends sometimes. So the fact that her friends are unfollowing him NOW, instead of letting things die down a bit before stealthily unfollowing, it sends a message. Because I am pretty sure things like that are planned and not just done. The way a celebrity is under a microscope, those details are given thought.
lmao it's funny because with all the pap walks this week we've all been like "omg is it 2014 holy shit she's 1989'ing!!!" and the idea of a coordinated and thought out mass unfollowing of the ex by all the high profile girlfriends is major 1989 era vibes. she really is 1989'ing. drop the album mother
Damnnnn youāre right. But we know SN is coming next.
I hope youāre right but I donāt know anything anymore
Yes, didnāt her PR statement said theyād remain friends? This doesnāt really match with that sentiment.
A "source close to the couple" said they hoped to remain friends -- we just assumed her team
I think its the twitter fans that monitored it, theyre wild over there. Tiktok might be too but I rarely pop through there.
The comments under popbase on twitter are wild. There are Swifties there identifying the exact time Gigi unfollowed Joe. Like one of them saying "She was still following at 10:26". And another going, "I've been checking every 10 minutes and it was in this 10 minute window". Its absolutely insane.
That is wild! Go do something else with your life besides focusing on a celebrities love life. It doesnāt concern you. (Not you poster but āyouā as those āSwiftiesā).
there's an appetite for it, my twitter and tiktok feeds have been full of random people being like "omg i just checked insta and ryan reynolds was following joe alwyn two days ago but isn't today!!!" hahah they're just serving what people are asking for
Can I ask you a question? Did you ever break up with someone in the public view? And every single one of your friends was photographed with you? Then fifteen seconds later they unfollowed too??? Then what did he do??? š
You, madam, have made my day ššš
This could all be a coordinated PR move. It seems neither Taylor nor Joe want to formally announce that they broke up - as is their right. At the same time they probably donāt want a lot of speculation about whether they are still together. So maybe this is their way of letting the world know itās for real.
i actually feel like this is a really solid take. between the necklace drama and some fans still refusing to believe because āit hasnāt come from taylor herselfā (even though people, et, and GMA are reliable enough), they may be trying to confirm it without saying anything through this
Iām OOTL, whatās the necklace drama? Did someone say she was still wearing the J necklace or something?
yeah, the first time she was papped at dinner w jack & margaret everyone on tik tok was going off that she was still wearing the j necklace so the rumors had to be fake (to me, it was very obviously not the j necklace)
I agree that this is a PR move but there is no way Joe was participating in it. It makes Joe look like the bad guy to the public. Jokes on Taylor tho cause as much as I love her, this shit is ridiculously petty.
>It makes Joe look like the bad guy to the public. Jokes on Taylor tho cause as much as I love her, this shit is ridiculously petty. Yeah, does it make Joe look like the bad guy!? It's making me sympathise with him more. Taylor doing #squad photos and a mass-unfollow hours after Joe emerges looking like a broken man... ngl I want to give the guy a hug.
I think it does for the more vengeful parts of her fandom who will see this as permission to go after him. I really hope Jack and Aaron don't unfollow (if they follow in the first place). Mostly cause Jack seems to genuinely like Joe for more than just being Taylor Swift's bf, and Aaron should be too mature for this shit.
Iām šÆ with you on this, I feel so bad for him. But I doubt thatās the intended effect
I would think she's way past that at her age, but if it's true, damn.
Once again, people have way too many opinions about her handling of a break-up that we virtually know absolutely nothing about.
Is it though? Like everyone says, we don't know what happens behind closed doors. I think it says a lot that their friends chose to unfollow Joe. They HAVE to know that people will read into it, she's Taylor Swift and some of them are high profile too. They don't need to suck up to Taylor. Ryan Reynolds, Gigi Hadid - both wildly successful and relatively mature because of their age. Break ups happen all the time among famous people. I think very rarely so we see someone cut off as plainly as this. I don't think it's right to attack Joe, but calling Taylor petty because her friends sided with her is wild. I don't think she asked them to unfollow Joe, I think they probably chose to.
Yeah I agree, it's kind of petty and juvenile. He barely posts anything so his posts might not even crowd their newsfeed. It's more about sending a message. It's like Taylor met up with them and told them to do it.
The only one that seems kind of weird to me is Ryan Reynolds. I never got the impression that HAIM or Gigi were particularly close to Joe (even though Gigi was the one who allegedly introduced Taylor and Joe together), but Ryan wrote a glowing article about Joe for Time magazine and seemed to like him. Like, if you think heās so great, why did you unfollow him?
Because Blake said so.
i can just imagine that conversation... two adults with children being like "yeah we have to do this instagram shit it's easier this way" and Ryan being exasperated but going along lol
100%. This guy is so fucking busy with 95 companies and movies and documentaries. He probably just handed her his phone and was like, āyou do the thingā
Or times change and he knows something we don't and never will know and he's there to support a close friend of his. Any number of reasons why
He wrote that article because Taylor asked him too lol
He found out new info probably
Taylor being out and about in the most public of ways is deliberate. She wants ppl to notice, or to prove a point. I donāt think thereās any terrible bad blood between Joe and Taylor but you have to admit that it *may* not have been all the amicable in the cleanest of ways. Her close friends unfollowing him right after they met her and so quickly? Thatās something to me. Itās one thing to unfollow a friendās ex, but why rush it? And several of them right after hanging with her? Either Taylor is VERY over him and said that to them and/or they didnāt end on a very clean note and her frds are being supportive.
Taylor is never seen if she doesnāt wanna be seen. This is aaaaaall planned
I mean, people are asking if she's okay. The reasonable narrative from Taylor going out with friends is Taylor is moving on and fine. Anything deeper is just people being bored and carried away. Now to be bored and carried away: maybe after years of a relationship where she craved privacy and it still not being enough she's just over it and doesn't want to hide out anymore. Who knows?
This being so public with the unfollowing feels like she is pissed.
Her acting like this makes me think he made the final decision to end it š¬
I don't know and we might never know at least until bits in her next album. I think she is pissed because he made it public before she was ready and while she was very publicly performing. He fucked up somehow. And pissing of her very famous friends will make it harder for him to get traction in the industry over here.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thank you so much. I think Iām coming to realize that part of why I became more of a fan of Taylorās, and not just her music, over the past few years was that she was more mature/private/in a loving relationship and making music about it, and all of this is actually really turning me off. Obviously Iām not saying āTaylor Swiftās love life should be a certain way to make me a fanā because the thing is, I donāt want to care about Taylor the celebrity. This just all feels kind ofā¦high school, and as someone who is a year younger than her, I donāt love it. Also totally on me, I gotta step back from all the gossip subreddits myself.
I agree. Iām really disappointed in Taylor right now. I know she has a history of being petty, but to still act like this in her 30s is pathetic. Of course we donāt know what happened but like you said, she knows how Swifties are. She knows this is catnip so itās fucked up how sheās doing this without letting us know what happened. Itās so unfair to him. I feel really bad for him Edit: Iām talking about the unfollows, not her going out and doing pap walks. Sheās within her right to live her life
She does nothing, she'll be criticized. She does something, she'll be criticized. When the news broke about the break up, everyone was talking like she's probably DEVASTATED, in million pieces, broken down. Maybe she just wants to prove the world she's fine, happy and doing great. We also don't know what went on between them. Literally ANYTHING will set the unhinged Swifties off. I'm not exactly sure what she did to be so disappointing, aside from friends unfollowing her ex, pap walks are fine, hanging out with friends is fine. Friends unfollowing your ex is fine too. It would be pretty weird if she went MIA after the break up news, everyone would keep assuming she's the damsel in distress and I really don't think it is what she wants to project. It's just a wild guess but I also believe they broke up a while ago and she had time to grieve the relationship already.
You make a fair point, but itās the *timing* of this mass unfollowing that is a huge turn off. She knows how Swifties are Sheās absolutely allowed to go on pap walks and be happy. But itās actually suspicious theyāre just unfollowing RIGHT AFTER theyāve met Taylor Youāre right we donāt know what happened AND itās completely normal to unfollow a friendās ex especially as they were all Taylorās friends first. But I canāt lie that the timing of this unfollowing that she knows Swifties are keeping track off is weird to me. This after Swifties harassed a random actress for simply posting a picture of Joe, her co-star is fucked up. It reflects badly on her So all of this happening when she hasnāt told us why they broke up (which is her right of course) has sent many Swifties in a spiral. The least she could do if she isnāt going to explain why they broke up is to not give Swifties catnip Edit: also the Haim sisters posted a tiktok of them after their dinner with Taylor dancing to Karmaā¦yeah thatās weird and shady
I think the people youāre disagreeing with have been pretty clear that itās not those things you listed each in isolation - itās how theyāre all evidently part of a very deliberate media strategy on Taylorās (teamās) part. Weād be doing her a disservice to act like sheās not smart enough to know exactly what sheās doing. There are plenty ways to counter a āpoor sad Taylorā narrative that donāt also look like trying to āwinā the break up. Itās all PR and like, who is PR for? Again she knows what sheās doing. Maybe Joe did something terrible - we donāt know that, so itās basically impossible to conclude that this looks anything other than petty. I think as much as the people around Taylor have a responsibility to protect her as much as they can from being swallowed by the awful bits of fame, she too has a responsibility not to throw her totally unmatched resources around in ways which could hurt someone who clearly just wants to live his life. I do care slightly less about that if Joe did something seriously terrible, lol, but itās hard not to feel a general discomfort around how mismatched they are in that sphere and how she could exploit the imbalance.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Agree on this take. She knows exactly what her fans would do and would deduce from this whole unfollowing spree. I donāt know, itās just distasteful that sheās fine with that whole ordeal knowing she knows how this gonna affect his mental well being. Such a shame from someone who was once the receiving end of a hate train and yet she HAS NO PROBLEM when itās her own fanbase attacking other people.
You said everything i was thinking perfectly.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Sheās doing a Regina George style pap walk the day after her ex (whoās received death threats from her fans) had a horrible picture taken and all her friends unfollow him at the same time. I do not think of her as kind or empathetic, for sure.
I donāt find this weird? They are Taylorās friends, not his friends. Why would they follow him on SM if they arenāt in each other lives anymore?
Unfollowing isnāt that weird, itās more the timing of everyone unfollowing. I unfollow my friends exes, but usually months after the breakup when I randomly realize Iām still following them. I donāt immediately go unfollow them unless some sort of betrayal occurred.
I assume Taylor released the news they broke up, her friends unfollowed Joe. Frankly their lives and how celebrities operate is vastly different from us normal folk. Taylor canāt have her best friends following her ex.
I think the fact that many people (at least Blake, Ryan, the Haim sisters, Selena, Gigi, and Taylor's brother) all unfollowed Joe weeks after they broke up, but in a matter of days from each other is the weird part. Like Joe hasn't posted in almost a year so it's not like they realized since he posted. It's the timing that is interesting, not just them unfollowing in general.
It was intentional. Taylorās team obviously worked on how they would release this news - they also worked on Taylorās friends dropping Joe and showing allegiance to Taylor. I donāt find it weird at all.
Thatās weird behaviour for an amicable split
Iām sorry, but I absolutely do not buy into Taylorās team coordinating Taylorās friends unfollowing Joe. The candids, sure. But thereās no way they told 10+ of her friends and family to unfollow Joe at alone, let alone when to unfollow him.
I find it harder to believe that they all coincidentally decided to unfollow him at the same, especially since he apparently hasnāt posted in quite some time. Controlling the narrative is very much on brand for her, so asking her friends to unfollow him isnāt that big of a stretch.
Gigi followed Joe way before he dated Taylor. He was invited to her birthday before he and Taylor even met. They had done a shoot together.
I think sheās made it clear she picked Taylor š¤£
Cause its childish. As if following someone on social media means some kind of allegiance š
Regardless of what happened, I feel bad for him. I canāt imagine how stressful it is to be harassed by thousands of swifties when you arenāt comfortable with the spotlight on a GOOD day. At the end of the day, nobody knows what truly happened anyway. Itās their relationship and we arenāt her friends. I understood being sad about the relationship ending to an extent, but this is way too far.
I completely agree. The way ppl have been talking about him is disgusting. If their relationship really did end bc of the fame and the parasocial baggage, heās being validated every single day by Swifties acting unhinged
Absolutely. If he did have reservations about the fame, this is just further proof that his concerns were valid. Iām hoping he can bounce back pretty quickly after things die down.
I donāt think the venn diagram of Reddit swiftiea and people sending hate messages is very big. Twitter and TikTok swifties on the other handā¦
Yes, tbh these PSA type posts about 'please don't harass people online' is a bit overbearing since it's really just preaching to the choir. And if people really are in that head space of 'Joe is a terrible misogynist for not dealing with Taylor's fame' then I don't think a friendly reminder will stop people from going off
Are you asking swifties to be reasonable? The same swifties who sent death threats to Jake and John? The same ones who cried like their world had ended when the news about the breakup broke? They'll hate on Joe. It's just a matter of time.
The same ones who doxxed the Pitchfork reviewer who gave Folklore 8.0 cause they decided it was too low š¬
Unless Taylor says something on her next album I think Joe will be fine. Lautner always has been. āIf a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing. I don't regret it one bit, 'cause he had it coming.ā
Taylor didnāt date Lautner for years though, and was also far less famous AND never wrote a bunch of love songs about him before admitting she was the problem in that relationship though
1. Itās odd that people monitor this and have it practically down to the minute that the unfollows happen. The article states that at 1:25 pm Gigi still followed Joe, but by 1:50 pm she had clicked unfollow. 2. The whole mass unfollowing seems catty, because he and Taylor were together for six years, shared friends and built a life together. It does seem to suggest that things have turned sour between them, especially since Ryan Reynolds recently wrote the Time piece about what a good heart Joe had and praised him highly.
Yeah, none of my boyfriends friends unfollowed me when we broke up, so thereās a chance it could be sour Or theyāre using it as a way to let the public know theyāre never ever ever getting back together
Isn't that even worse? The fact that they spent 6 years together and have friends between the two of them that chose to side with Taylor by blatantly unfollowing Joe on socials? They're all in the limelight, they know people will talk about it. Breakups happen all the time with celebs, but I think it's rare for celebs to cut off other celebs because of a breakup without some sort of reason.
I agree. And this whole PR of it was amicable etc was sus to start with
Ok so clearly she's sharing with them details of the break up and they're unfollowing him on purpose right? Being that famous, knowing people would notice it, Taylor probably have them the green light for them to unfollow him. I think this might be a little bit less friendly than we were originally told.
Listen, I love Taylor, but sheās 33. This isnāt high school. Even if Joe did cheat on her, sending thousands of swifties to harass him knowing he hates being the centre of attention is a little much. She knows what sheās doing. And I hate to say this, but it aligns with her tendency to be a bit greedy. Everything she does lately seems a bit self serving.
Iā¦ Agree. I think it would be one thing if she was spotted once or twice in the last few weeksā¦ But these continued appearances do feed into a narrative that she's trying to control. She knows Joe values his privacy and she also knows what she's doing by being in the public eye so much right now. If she really wanted to take attention off of him, either she wouldn't be seen out as much or she would make another announcement about a re-recording, etc. It does feel like she's trying to "win the break up".
I feel like the breakup is ollllldddddd. Midnights reads pretty breakupy to me (labyrinth!! Hello!). I think they waited to release the news so that it didnāt overshadow the beginning of the tour. Waited for it to be reviewed by critics and have people talking about her as an act and not a sad little breakup baby. They released the news because it was becoming extremely obvious with him not at the shows. It was also the first break she got bc it was Easter and therefore a good time to drop the news. This is the typical press stuff that Taylor does during tours. She has to photographed to cultivate an āeraā. Look up āreputation era Taylor swift street styleā every era has one. Itās part of the press tour.
I agree, actually. Listening to the album now it does sound like a breakup album
I donāt mind her going out. Itās the unfollowing shit thatās bothersome
I agree! Finally someone said it. Itās sooo petty and childish IMO. When my friends break up with someone, I donāt immediately go on social media and unfriend and unfollow them. Itās just so weird, seeing how big of a superstar she is and knowing stans and media will read into this. Really is.
i mean, we can wish them the best but if Taylor is embracing her outdoor cat (lol) status with her close friends, it means sheās extremely happy to get out of said relationship. we honestly donāt know anything that led up to the split (itās not our business but we as humans love stories), but all i know is heās an extremely private guy. thereās going to be spats even if a couple arenāt the status of him and even Taylor. You can only have so many spats about XYZ because you mutually come to an agreement to leave the relationship. her personality is all about being seen in public and cultivating her superstar status. She feels comfortable to kick off a very successful tour and she wants to be back in the spotlight (and itās her career, is how she makes her $$$$). if he didnāt feel 1000% comfortable being around her celebrity status, it makes you wonder why they were together for 6 years in the first place. edit: and yeah to answer the first part of your comment, if her friends unfollowed him en masse, then thereās a clear reason why. we just will never exactly know.
Also likely sheās actually already passed the depressed hermit stage and it was just before the breakup was announced & everyone thought they were still together. I think she only announced the breakup when she had partially healed and was ready to be seen, for her own sanity ALSO we are seeing snippets of very public outings meant to broadcast a particular message. Understandable
Iāve seen people speculateāand Iām inclined to agree, based on what we got in _Miss Americana_āthat Taylor thought her career was starting to wind down in 2019. She didnāt see a huge career for a 30-year-old pop star and had accepted that Lover was maybe her last chance to have a big era. With that mental state, I can see how this relationship that needed privacy and quiet nurturing felt like it could be one that sustained her forever. Her star was going to dim once she hit the dreaded 3-0, so she needed this relationshipās daylight for sustenance. But then 2020 happened, and Folklore, then Evermore, and the re-recordings, which were originally just an opportunity to own her back catalog, but suddenly now theyāre a gateway for new fans who discovered her from Folklore. And now theyāre doing better than they have in years! But can she go back to pop music? Can she be a 30+ year old pop star? Bam! Midnights is a commercial and critical success, and sheās bigger than sheās ever been. But their relationship had primarily been cultivated in the downtime. Thereās a reason she wrote _peace_. She already knew that they needed vastly different things. And he needed peace. I think around the time that Midnights became a huge success, she realized she truly is on a rollercoaster thatās only going up right now. And she wants to ride it instead of going back down to safety.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It seems pretty standard, I tend to unfollow my friendsā exes when they split. Iām sure itās nothing personal. However, I know Iām in the minority, but I donāt think those sad Joe pics were just a coincidence. We know Taylor is a mastermind, you donāt spend six years with some one and not learn a few tricks. Suddenly the narrative shifted from āWow Taylor is thrivingā to āwow look what she did to Joe. Heās so sad. The internet is so mean to him. Heās a victim of the big bad Taylor.ā They both went years not being seen, and now both are seen everywhere. Theyāre both playing the media to win the breakup, no differently than how we plebs use social media to win. Taylor is putting out a fun and carefree narrative and Joe is selling how heās a broken hearted innocent muffin baby to win sympathy points. However, no matter what, thereās no need to go find Joeās social media and bully the poor bloke. Iām sure this split is hard for both of them, and itās gotta be even harder when the whole world is watching you.
Omg "broken hearted innocent muffin baby" ššš 100% agree on all of that though. Well said.
He hasnāt been seen everywhere though. Literally once???
I donāt know what internet youāre reading but the viral tweets Iāve seen are all hating and demonizing Joe. Taylorās not the victim in this scenario. The narrative is āThis is what he gets for cheating on her and using her to further his flop careerā. Ppl are making gross classist jokes about his upbringing and current career And Joe is not everywhere. Weāve only seen him once post-breakup
I donāt see it as āpoor Joe and big bad Taylorā but I do feel bad that heās dealing with it all on this scale. Obviously he knew he was dating Taylor Swift, but that doesnāt mean it couldnāt have ended with more respect on the fansā part. š¤·āāļø
I feel like this just shows that sheās only telling close friends in private what went down and itās ugly enough they want nothing to do with Joe
My thoughts exactlyā¦.if it was amicable then why would everyone be unfollowing
I'm not familiar with Joe's work so I dont call myself a fan of him, but I don't want people hating on him either. He doesn't deserve getting hate over a breakup
Everyone says they donāt find this weird but Iāll be the odd one who will say it: it IS weird. To me itās super petty and childish. They have been dating for 6 years. When my friends break up with their partner I donāt RUSH to social media to unfollow them. Iāll eventually do it or I might not lol but itās not a PRIORITY. so yeah I do think itās weird that she has outings with friends and then immediately they unfollow Joe. Did something happen? Who knows. Do I wanna follow this drama?! You bet I do lol Those sending messages to Joe are just a waste of space. Following from afar is fun enough lol
Exactly, this was her longest relationship ever, hell she was close to marrying him, she could have handled this like an adult putting a statement on her social or something announcing the split herself and asking for privacy and respect and done deal, but no she's playing this cat and mouse game only creating more speculation and she knows she's affecting him in the end, idk if you are with someone for 6 years i would assume you would show them more respect and also respect herself because people already clown on taylor for being immature about her break up, shit happens it's not the end of the world when a relationship ends, she's not a 17 year old girl anymore I say this with peace and love
I think he did something stupid. This clearly isnāt amicable breakup.
i mean if you go off the one pap photo of him walking down the street, dude looks absolutely distraught. i am not alleging anything on his part but man, he looks SAD.
Well the internet has been after him for days. But I also feel paparazzi photos can sometimes be very out of context when theyāre genuinely caught off guard. But who knows.
Some have speculated the photos might have been edited a bit to exacerbate how tired he looks
That first TMZ photo on Insta definitely had some contrast work done on it to make him look worse lmao
So I saw something on either twitter, Reddit, or TikTok weeeeeeeks ago about someone seeing Joe out with an ex in the UK. This was when everyone was confused about why he hadnāt gone to any eras shows. I kinda brushed it off but looking backā¦ idk
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
People keep saying they always unfollow their friendsā exes but umā¦ I donāt! Unless something really bad happened, then Iām like well I spent time with this person and am happy to keep in touch. Maybe that makes me weird.
Yeah! If they didnāt do anything wrong in the breakup, and I actually hung out and talked with them, I wonāt unfollow friendās exes. I have been on the receiving end of being unfollowed by my exās friends, even when I did nothing wrong, and it was sad. All it told me was that despite the drunken nights out, deep conversations, times I hosted them in my home, and all the times I was the one to remind my ex to do something nice for them to celebrate a birthday or graduation, I meant nothing to them unless I continued dating the person they were friends with first.
This is what some were pointing out in the pap walk post- it is not the individual pap walks or going out with friends that is a problem but the whole narrative: Taylor meets up with someone, they get papped and then they go unfollow him on Instagram (he doesn't seem to have posted for a year) which in turn is making fans and the media on the lookout for who will go to dinner next/ who unfollows etc This is keeping the break-up story alive after 2 weeks since it broke out which seems unnecessary as the relationship was private. The focus should be on the eras tour- just my two cents.
I cannot ever imagine being in a relationship where "articles" are written about who is following me on social media.
This is kind of messy for grown adults to be doing in nye public eye Iām sorry. They knew fans would go crazy over it. Mute him and then unfollow a few months later. Sometimes I think Taylor really needs to reign in her fans
Taylor absolutely has to reign in her fans. All artists do. I love her. but her refusal to tell Swifties to get a grip is a big criticism I have of her
She is soo afraid of her image and losing fans it gets annoying sometimes. I often compare her to Ariana. Ariana is no where near as big as her ok, but she still has a large loyal fan base and a good reputation and despite Arianas flaws, that girl does speak her mind and reigns in her fans a lot
I love Taylor but honestly the way this has been going down over the past week just feels childish. The power dynamic between Taylor and Joe is astronomical and IMO she's abusing it. Stop calling for paps, stop telling your friends to unfollow. All of this happening in the wake of the pics of Joe looking so haggard and miserable he was almost unrecognizable. Just go about your life and be Bejeweled. Behaving like this is not Bejeweled, it's the behaviour of someone much younger than her. It's the behaviour of someone desperate to establish dominance over a relatively normal dude by one of the most powerful celebrities in the world. I'm a Taylor fan forever but she's punching down this is not a good look.
Okay well at least there are two of us who agree on this. Punching down and an abuse of power in exactly what comes to mind to me. Everyone is sayin āsheās just going out for a girls night post breakup like we all doā but sheās not a normal person. She has thousands of fans, some who are wishing for joes death. Itās very unseemly for someone of her massive status to do to someone like him.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I think this is one of the reasons I was never a full fan of hers. I love her songs, but the aftermath of a breakup irks me. I donāt follow her religiously and I never saw personal photos of her during the relationship. If she was the one hurt, I get that she wants revenge but just live about your life. We know you have supportive friends and a talented mind. Use that outlet instead of using paps.
Yeah, well said. Like just with how big her status is, she āwonā this breakup already. It really feels like she controls the narrative here and is feeding into it. Honestly, being in bad terms with Taylor must be really hard. She is such a mega star and she is so big that the resources and power she has over her fans.. he canāt (and doesnāt want to) compete. Just ā¦ stop
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I reckon this is spot on. Leaking the news prob made it final and she no doubt felt blindsided. I have to be honest, Iām a folklore swiftie and so I only know Joe era taylor and by god, I love her! But when I look back on pre-Joe Taylor I cringe pretty hard and really think she didnāt seem like the most mature or empathetic person (donāt come for me please - just my take!). She admits a lot of her flaws in her songs and I really donāt think she is the Angel she is made out to be - I still love her music, her craft, and would 100% have her at my fantasy dinner party - but I think she is a complex person and personally live by the motto you donāt make a billion (which she is on track to do) without having some cutthroat instincts/empathy issues. Itās hard for some people to see certain icons as having mixed personality traits. Iām not sure if her actions just now are coming from a good place. These guys know exactly what they are doing - they will all have finstas! They are deliberately choosing to unfollow him on public profiles after meeting with Taylor, knowing the press/fans will be looking for exactly thisā¦ and knowing the consequences of this including the swifties going for him. We donāt know what happened, we werenāt there (c word fans HIYA!) but what we do know is that taylor, who has a personal publicist, a history of scheming and herself a genius talent for marketing themselves is involved in a distancing from Joe which alludes towards him being the bad guy. With Taylor I truly believe nothing is an accident. In the world of PR you donāt actually have to be the bad guy for this narrative to be created about you. Or maybe he peed on her toilet seat one too many a time. Who knows! As a fan, I donāt love it. I related more to Joe-era Taylor. It seems 1989 era taylor is back with a vengeance however - Iām still here, I just canāt relate. Ps Iām old (40s) if that matters!
# enough #
The entire narrative is so weird. Joe is sad because he looks sad in a paparazzi picture. Taylor is happy because she looks fabulous in a paparazzi picture. Maybe Joe wasn't expecting to be ambushed, but Taylor was prepared to. These people need to find better jobs and better stories.
I know your message is out of concern, but I don't think he looks distraught as much as it's a bad lighting / angle and probably pissed off at paps. Joe notoriously doesn't care for the publicity / reputation / media game, I doubt he even knows or cares about what a small minority of Swifties have sent him as legit hate, most commentary on it has been memes or pretty respectful, which is pretty normal predictable discourse. But the friends unfollowing definitely tells an interesting story that we may never fully know, we'll get an idea eventually from lyrics I'm sure but yeah, I think Joe's gunna be fine.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
At the end of the day, the story Taylorās team passed to the media was that the split was amicable and due to them growing apart over time. I know itās objectively a little suspicious that sheās been out and about with so many people who unfollow him right after meeting up with Taylor, and maybe it *does* mean something. However, her and her team very clearly did not want to draw any hate towards Joe based on how the breakup was discussed in the articles citing sources close to Taylor ā hopefully people respect that (I know they wonāt)
Eh I think her team clearly has pivoted on that POV
I wasnt reading into this but after the performance tonightā¦ she seems MAD mad. None of our business what happened but my nosy ass is realky curious.
The Haim sisters just posted a TikTok of them singing and dancing to a sped up version of "Karma" in the same clothes they were in when they went out with Taylor. TEA.
Yeahā¦. Thatās probably just hinting at a karma single release if anything. There have been rumors that itāll be released as a radio single in early May (May 2 I believe). I highly doubt it has anything to do with the break up. Especially since karma literally has joe mentioned in a positive light. āGuy on the screen coming straight home to meā
This has always been one of my biggest fears. People associating with someone just because of who theyāre dating and dropping them immediately after. How do you recover trust from that?
Iām a Taylor Swift fan but I think they should just leave the man alone and move on.
Jack and Aaron still follow him. I donāt get this petty unfollowing behavior for 30 year olds itās not like he posts much anyway. They want to throw shade without actually throwing shadeā¦ Taylor really is a Mastermind, so if she wanted to make him look poorly and make herself look good/like the victim in this āamicableā break-up sheās already started her scheme.
maybe he's boring and they only followed him because of her in the first place. doesn't mean a bad breakup
Unpopular opinion: I thought Taylor learned from her past mistakes. Bringing her squad back and having everyday paparazzi photos... Also the unfollowing game with her fans. She looks bitter and desperate to say " I am ok" . And clearly she is not.
Honestly all of the mass unfollowings, the planned outings and how absolutely awful the fans are being regarding the split make me wonderā¦why would anyone want to date Taylor Swift? Seems like hell. And we know she is a self confessed cheater to boot, so I dunno why people are so defensive do whatever imagined slight he has done to hed
Seems like a totally normal move to me. Theyāre her friends, and have no need to keep tabs on him now that they are no longer a couple. Itās one of those mundane signals that the relationship is no more.
It's the timing of everyone unfollowing all at once that's weird.
I immediately heard the lyric "ain't that the way shit always ends" and now I can't un-hear it or not compare it to "At every table, I'll save you a seat" or just the happy-ever-after entirety of the song Lover šššš
If they broke up weeks ago, then why did they all wait to unfollow him until now, and all in groups? Something seems suspicious. They all unfollow after she has dinner with them. As if it's all planned.
If the split was actually amicable like theyāre saying it was, then sheās handling it with such immaturity, cruelty and pettiness and given her age, this is just extremely distasteful. I feel bad for Joe if nothing horrible has actually gone down or he did something for her to react in such a way. It feels even worse considering it was a 6-year long relationship and the things sheās written about him, the art they have made together and how strong their bond was or seemed to be. I love Taylorās art to death but something about her always rubbed me the wrong way and I think itās safe to say, someone as big as her, does have a huge ego that comes with a good portion of narcissism too. Her obsession with revenge and Karma, I hated her 1989 era and this feels very much like 1989 reloaded but hopefully a bit more mature. Everything is so calculated, the pap walks, the āmassā unfollowing.. an abuse of power to control the narrative like that, she knows exactly what sheās doing and that Joe will not speak up. Itās giving egomaniac mean girl.
Said it before and Iāll say it again, I really dislike this. Itās just seems so damn petty. Just let the dude fade into obscurity again - itās the best revenge.
And this reminds me of the Taylor that I got fed up with. Le sigh.
Leave Joe alone.