Try not to read too much into this, Swifties — because today we’re breaking down those rumors that Joe Alwyn cheated on Taylor Swift. Since their breakup in 2023, there has been lots of noise regarding why they decided to go their own ways, and with the release of Taylor’s album Tortured Poet’s Department (which is rumored to be about Joe)upon us, fans are convinced some lyrics may pinpoint exactly what happened to their 6-year relationship.
Keep reading for a full breakdown of the rumors.
The cheating speculation first began after Taylor performed in Melbourne, Australia, for an Eras Tour stop on February 17. There, she sang a mashup of three songs: “Getaway Car,” “August” and “The Other Side of the Door.” The song choices immediately had fans raising their eyebrows — as all of them had to do with cheating.
One viral social media post said: “So getaway car is from the perspective of the cheater, august is from the perspective of the other woman, and the other side of the door from the perspective of the woman who was cheated on.”
One week later, rumors escalated after she performed a mashup of two surprise songs, “You’re Not Sorry” and “Should’ve Said No” on February 24, in Sydney. Being that “Should’ve Said No” is about breaking up with an unfaithful partner, many fans were quick to tie the second performance with previous rumors.
“At this point, if you are Joe Alwyn, with the rumors that are going around about you, I would go into hiding,” one TikTok user said in a video about the Sydney performance.
It’s important to note that the majority of Swifties are not on board with the cheating speculation. In a fan-caught video of Taylor singing “Should’ve Said No,” the Grammy-winning songstress sang the lyrics “Was she worth it?” and then shook her head no during the performance. While some fans speculated that Taylor could be referencing Joe, majority believed that she was referring to the partner she was with when she wrote the song — which was in 2006.
Joe did not immediately respond to J-14’s request for comment.
ICYMI, Taylor and Joe dated for six years before their breakup was confirmed in April 2023. The pair kept their relationship out of the public eye for the most part while they were together, and only made brief mentions to their relationship publicly.
“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,” Joe told WSJ Magazine in April 2022, staying quiet about engagement rumors at the time. “I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn’t say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn’t say. We live in a culture that people expect so much to be given.”
After their breakup, Taylor was briefly romantically linked to Matty Healy in May 2023, but has since confirmed her relationship with Travis Kelce in the latter half of 2023.
“When you say a relationship is public, that means I’m going to see him do what he loves, we’re showing up for each other, other people are there and we don’t care,” Taylor told TIME Magazine in December 2023 of her current romance. “The opposite of that is you have to go to an extreme amount of effort to make sure no one knows that you’re seeing someone. And we’re just proud of each other.”
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