Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn reportedly first crossed paths at the 2016 Met Gala on May 2, 2016. At the time, Swift was in a relationship with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris. Less than a month after the event, Swift and Harris ended their relationship, and she soon began dating British actor Tom Hiddleston, whom she also met at the Met Gala and spent the evening dancing with. Through Swift's lyrics, it is speculated that during her time with Hiddleston, she developed a close friendship with Alwyn while also beginning to develop romantic feelings for him. Reports indicate that on September 6, Swift and Hiddleston ended their brief romance, as they had not been seen together for nearly a month. Rumors suggest that Swift and Alwyn began dating—or at least went on their first date—on September 28. This theory arose when Swift altered a lyric while covering Earth, Wind & Fire's "September" for Spotify Sessions, changing "Do you remember the 21st night of September?" to "Do you remember the 28th night of September?" Their relationship became a major inspiration for Swift's music. Many songs from her albums reputation (2017) and Lover (2019) are believed to be about Alwyn, including "Gorgeous," "Call It What You Want," "Delicate," "Dress," "Lover," "London Boy," and "Afterglow," among others. Additionally, several tracks from Folklore and Evermore (2020) are speculated to reference their relationship, such as "Invisible String," "Peace," "The Lakes," and "Long Story Short." Swift's 2022 album Midnights features more songs thought to be about Alwyn, including the opening track "Lavender Haze," as well as "Sweet Nothing" and "Glitch." While discussing "Lavender Haze," Swift shared in an Instagram video, "My relationship of six years, we've had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it. So this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff." Alwyn also contributed to Swift's music. In her documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, she revealed that he co-wrote the tracks "Exile" and "Betty" under the pseudonym William Bowery. Their collaboration continued on Evermore, where they co-wrote "Champagne Problems," "Coney Island," and the title track. On Midnights, Alwyn once again contributed under his alias, co-writing "Sweet Nothing." Despite her history of high-profile relationships, Swift's romance with Alwyn was her most private. She refrained from sharing much about their relationship publicly, and they were rarely photographed together. Alwyn himself was known as "Hollywood's Most Private Leading Man." In an April 2022 interview with ELLE, Alwyn addressed his preference for privacy, stating, "It's not really [because I] want to be guarded and private, it's more a response to something else. We live in a culture that is so increasingly intrusive... the more you give—and frankly, even if you don't give it—something will be taken." When asked by The Wall Street Journal about engagement rumors, Alwyn responded, "If I had a pound for every time I think I've been told I've been engaged, then I'd have a lot of pound coins. I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn't say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn't say." On April 8, 2023, ET exclusively reported that Swift and Alwyn had broken up after six years together. Rumors suggest that their split actually occurred in February. Following the breakup, Swift was linked to The 1975's Matty Healy, while Alwyn was rumored to be dating actress Emma Laird. The split appeared to be less than amicable, as Swift's friends unfollowed Alwyn on social media, fueling speculation. On April 19, 2024, Swift released her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, which fans believe contains songs about her breakup with Alwyn, including "So Long, London" and "How Did It End?" On June 15, 2024, when The Hollywood Reporter asked Alwyn if he had listened to the album, he avoided a direct answer, instead stating, "I would hope that anyone and everyone can empathize and understand the difficulties that come with the end of a long, loving, fully committed relationship of over six and a half years. That is a hard thing to navigate. What is unusual and abnormal in this situation is that, one week later, it's suddenly in the public domain and the outside world is able to weigh in." Alwyn acknowledged that once their breakup became public, their "very real" experience was thrown into the "very unreal space" of tabloids, social media, and public speculation, where it was "dissected, speculated on, pulled out of shape beyond recognition." "And the truth is," he continued, "there is always going to be a gap between what is known and what is said. I have made my peace with that." On January 5, 2025, in an interview with The Guardian, Alwyn expressed his desire for people to move on from discussions about his past relationship with Swift. "We're talking about something that's a while ago now in my life. So that's for other people. That's what I feel," he stated.