Taylor's 'The Tortured Poets Department' might be about Joe Alwyn
What's the story
The 66th Grammy Awards proved to be a game-changer for songstress Taylor Swift who picked up two golden gramophones: Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, both for Midnights.
She also utilized this opportunity to announce a new album, The Tortured Poets Department, which will be released on April 19.
Within hours, the intriguing title had fans speculating about its ties to Swift's personal life, particularly her previous relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn.
Fans' guesses
This is how fans played Sherlock
The first hint that led Swifties to believe that the album would be about Alwyn is Swift's revelation that she had been working on it for two years, coinciding with her time dating Alwyn.
Following this, fans took to X and posted theories; one fan tweeted, "Apparently, [Joe] and [Paul Mescal's] WhatsApp [group] was called the tortured men's club."
Swift-Alwyn were together for six years before splitting up in early 2023. She is now dating NFL star Travis Kelce.
Twitter Post
Take a look at one fan's reaction
Taylor’s new album being called The Tortured Poet Department when I know Joe alwyn was in a group chat with Paul mescal and Andrew Scott called the tortured man club… pic.twitter.com/s5zql4SsWp
— Megan (@holdupalight_) February 5, 2024
Evidence
Earlier, Alwyn said this about the group
During a 2022 interview with Variety, Alwyn mentioned the group chat, comprising him and actors Mescal and Andrew Scott.
Scott had initiated the group chat.
"Scott is just on it every day. He's just on it by himself. Just messaging himself good mornings," Alwyn said.
Separately, he told GQ UK that the chat name is "a reflection on Connell and Nick." To note, Mescal's character on Normal People was called Connell and Alwyn played Nick on Conversations with Friends.
Swift's reveal
Meanwhile, Swift's Instagram post hinted at the album's theme
The Blank Space singer provided a peak into her next album, posting snippets of lyrics on Instagram, "And so I enter into evidence...My tarnished coat of arms...My muses, acquired like bruises...My talismans and charms...The tick, tick, tick of love bombs...My veins of pitch-black ink...All's fair in love and poetry."
Notably, Swift is famous for writing songs about the men in her life.
Past instances
Other incidents when Swift lyrically got back at her exes
Swift has penned lyrics about several of her ex-boyfriends.
For instance, she reportedly wrote Picture to Burn for her high school beau Jordan Alford. Its memorable line is, "You're a redneck heartbreak who's really bad at lying."
Or, take the occasion when her scathing writing screamed in Forever and Always, "Was I out of line? Did I say something way too honest, made you run and hide, like a scared little boy?," allegedly written for Joe Jonas.