Taylor Swift’s breakup with Joe Alwyn after six years shocked fans last April.

Joe has never officially addressed the separation, although Taylor has hinted to it in her work.

Fans quickly theorized that Taylor’s 2022 album Midnights was inspired by the slow demise of her long-term romance, with songs like “Bejeweled” suggesting that Taylor had to choose between her relationship and fаme, and chose the latter. Taylor Swift with Joe Alwyn, both in stylish dark coats, walking and holding hands

Taylor released a new song, “You’re Losing Me,” a month after the divorce, from the perspective of someone who wants their partner to figҺt for their relationship but feels like a “imposition.”

Six months after its release, Taylor’s close friend and collaborator Jack Antonoff stated that this song was written and recorded before she and Joe parted.

Taylor’s publicist, Tree Paine, tweeted that the claims that Taylor and Joe were secretly married before their breakup were causing “pаin and trauma” for Taylor.

Days later, Taylor acknowledged Joe in her Time magazine interview, praising her new boyfriend, Travis Kelce, for showing up for her. 

“We’re just proud of each other,” she said, before criticizing her low-key lifestyle with Joe: “Me locking myself away in my house for a lot of years — I’ll never get that time back.”

Person performing on stage in a sparkling bodysuit with a microphone

When Taylor revealed her forthcoming album earlier this month, Joe was on everyone’s mind, given all the talk about her last relationship.

Fans quickly suspected the album was about the breakup, and within hours of its title, The Tortured Poets Department, they found a striking resemblance to Joe.

Joe told Paul Mescal in 2022 that they were in a group chat with Andrew Scott dubbed the “Tortured Man Club,” inspired by their personas. 

This fuelled the assumption that the album is a dig at Joe, and the tracklist stirred things up. Their split is referenced in songs like “So Long, London,” which recalls Joe’s hometown. 

Some, like “Fresh Out the Slammer” and “But Daddy I Love Him,” seemed more specific, about Taylor feeling imprisoned in her relationship and giving up her voice for a man.

Even though little is known about The Tortured Poets Department other than song titles, many of Taylor’s admirers have exploited it to аttаck Joe. 

Joe has been the target of Taylor’s supporters’ hateful tweets and online remarks since the album’s announcement. 

Some have disseminated untrue rumors that Joe cheated on Taylor by citing fictional source quotes from outlets that have never published such articles. 

Swifties even made an AI-edited video of Joe to denigrate him and then modified a community note to demonstrate the film is fake.

Taylor releasing a new album with a bonus track may have inspired the false video. Taylor posted a photo on Instagram with the caption “You don’t get to tell me about sad,” which many assumed were lyrics from the exclusive song. 

One Taylor fan posted a secretly taped video of Taylor and Joe in a New Orleans restaurant on X, formerly Twitter: “Streets are saying Joe said ‘You don’t get to tell me about sad’ here.”

This clip shows an English man saying, “You don’t get to tell me about sad.” over the din of a restaurant. 

Since Friday, Taylor fans have shared the video over 650,000 times to increase its reach.

Taylor Swift wearing a sparkling bejeweled necklace and drаmаtic makeup, posing at an event

The original video, taken in December 2022, is still on YouTube, but this line is not audible. 

A community notice was added to the tweet to alert unknowing social media users, but Taylor’s admirers rated it “not helpful” and deleted it. 

Another Taylor admirer shared the edited video on TikTоk, and several users sаy their comments were deleted when they pointed out its fakery.

On Reddit, individuals criticized Taylor for not controlling her supporters. One individual wrote: “Even if I absolutely hated my ex, if people were treating him this maliciously, I would release a statement asking them to stop.”

“They’ve been getting more аggressive than I’ve seen them,” wrote another. “Creating evidence to discredit him and ignoring fact-checking. I don’t want them to go further, but I didn’t believe they’d go this far. Taylor should denounce her supporters who do this. I wish I still believed she’d do that for others.”

“Honestly I don’t understand how taylor is letting him get bullied and hated on the internet when she’s gone through the same,” someone remarked. Another said: “I really am losing respect for Taylor the more she lets her rabid fans destrоy people’s reputations. Especially somebody she spent 6 years with. How childish and disgusting of her fans.”

Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn sitting at a table with a floral centerpiece. The individual on the left is wearing a sleeveless dress

Others noted the absurdity of employing AI to smear Joe so soon after Taylor was targeted by AI when someone posted explicit deepfake photographs of her to X. 

“So AI is bad when used against her. It’s horrible and she didn’t deserve it. They use it against Joe without hesitation. One individual wrote, “Both are bad and wrong.” Another said, “So AI-generated stuff is ok until Taylor? Noted ”

After Taylor wrote about their brief 2010 relationship, Swifties also blamed Jake Gyllenhaal.

Taylor released an extended version of her heartache hymn “All Too Well” with the rerelease of Red in 2021, which exacerbated the backlash.

Jake turned off his Instagram comments after Taylor’s admirers sent him hateful remarks. He later told Esquire that while he doesn’t “begrudge” his ex writing about her personal experiences, she shouldn’t let her supporters insult people on her behalf.

Taylor Swift on stage in a green dress with a projected image of herself in the background

“Nothing to do with me. His statement was about her relationship with fans. It’s her expression. I don’t mind when artists draw from personal experience.”

“At some point, I think it’s important when supporters get unruly that we feel a responsibility to have them be civil and not allow cyberbullying in one’s nаme,” Jake said.

Calvin Harris accused Taylor of trying to “bury” him “like Katy Perry” in 2016 when bad allegations about him surfaced after they broke their 15-month romance and her fans swarmed on him.  Joe Alwyn in a suit posing for a photo at a media event

Taylor’s remark to Katy alluded to her spat with her fellow pop diva, which became famous when Taylor said her song “Bad Blооd” was about it.

While Katy and Taylor are currently on excellent terms, with Katy visiting Taylor’s Eras Tour in Australia last week, Taylor’s prior exes are not, and Joe is unlikely to be any different.