When it was first rumored that Taylor Swift’s ex-friend Karlie Kloss would be attending her wedding to Travis Kelce, I didn’t quite believe it. But then on July 3, there she was making her way to Madison Square Garden, dressed in gold and with her husband Josh Kushner in tow. And now their friendship is, once again, under a full-on microscope.
And in case you’re new here—i.e. you weren’t obsessing over all things Karlie + Taylor in the mid-aughts—we have a timeline to get you caught up. In other words, find out how these two went from being best friends (they were featured on a Vogue cover together!), to pretty much estranged, to cordial (if not downright friendly) again. Starting with...
January 2012
Karlie and Taylor’s friendship starts in 2012, when Taylor mentions she wants to bake cookies with Karlie during her Vogue cover story, prompting the model to tweet this:
November 2013
Taylor performs at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and has a moment with Karlie:
And Karlie just gushes, telling Hollywood Life, “We met at the show. We’d never met before but we’re BFFs now.”
March 2014
Taylor and Karlie become pretty much instant best friends and go road-tripping together.
April 2014
The BFFs are snapped while out and about together in NYC:
May 2014
Then they chill at the Met Gala together.
July 2014
Karlie and Taylor are spotted in NYC again!
September 2014
Taylor tells Rolling Stone she has a guest room where “Karlie usually stays.”
October 2014
And then they take in a game with...Ben Stiller?
November 2014
They spend pretty much all of November chilling:
December 2014
Taylor performs at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show again, and Karlie documents the moment on Insta.
Soon after, fans become convinced Taylor and Karlie are dating (a conspiracy theory that begins with a blurry photo published by TMZ of the two at The 1975’s concert), even coining the couple’s name “Kaylor,” but Tay’s rep calls a story of them making out “crap.” More specifically, she tells Us Weekly, “It’s sad that on the day it’s announced Taylor has three Grammy nominations for ‘Shake It Off,’ I have to shake off this crap.”
A few days later, Tay tweets, “As my 25th birthday present from the media, I’d like for you to stop accusing all my friends of dating me. #thirsty.”
Then Taylor invites a fleet of other celebs—including Karlie—to celebrate her birthday:
February 2015
Taylor and Karlie share a Vogue cover, which like...what best friends haven’t? (Obviously JK, this is a huge deal.)
May 2015
Karlie appears in Taylor’s "Bad Blood" music video:
June 2015
Karlie and the rest of the Squad™️ join Taylor on tour:
August 2015
And then at the VMAs!
April 2016
Karlie and Taylor hit up Coachella:
July 2016
Karlie attends Taylor‘s notorious July 4th party:
August 2016
Amid Taylor’s feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Karlie is asked by the Sunday Times if she thinks Kim is a “good person” and says, “I think she’s been a lovely person to me in the past. Look, I really don’t know her that well.”
The next day, she takes to Twitter and writes, “I will not allow the media to misconstrue my words. Taylor has always had my back and I will always have hers.”
October 2016
The pair celebrates Drake's birthday together:
December 2016
And then it’s Tay's b-day, so Karlie goes ahead and celebrates on Instagram:
July 2017
Karlie hangs with Kendall Jenner instead of Taylor for July 4th, which Swifties take very personally.
August 2017
Taylor drops the video for “Look What You Made Me Do,” and fans immediately notice that Karlie’s name isn’t on a T-shirt that features other members of her Squad.
October 2017
The Blast reports Taylor “politely declined” being on Karlie’s new show Movie Night With Karlie due to “scheduling issues.”
December 2017
Amid rumors of tension between them, Karlie drops a HBD post to Taylor:
January 2018
Karlie posts this video of herself dribbling a basketball on Instagram, which you might think means nothing:
But actually means everything because she initially captions it “swish swish”—a phrase Swifties interpret as being a direct reference to Katy Perry’s song of the same name, which is universally considered to be about Katy’s feud with Taylor.
February 2018
Karlie is seen hanging with Katy Perry, causing Swifties to spiral even further. As in, people are straight-up leaving rat emojis on Karlie’s Insta.
Even Jennifer Lawrence asks the question on everyone’s mind during a TimesTalks:
March 2018
The New York Times profiles Karlie and writes, “Her closest friends include Taylor Swift. They have vacationed together and have sat courtside at a New York Knicks game. Despite internet gossip suggesting otherwise, the pair continues to be good friends and they talk frequently. ‘Don’t believe everything you read,’ Ms. Kloss said.”
April 2018
The following month, Karlie gives an interview with Porter shouting out all her best friends...and doesn’t mention Taylor.
“I've built really amazing friendships—some that last, some that don't," she says. “A couple have become some of the most important relationships in my life. In particular, those I've been in the trenches with, such as Jourdan Dunn, Joan Smalls, Toni Garrn, and Lily Aldridge. We started as girls and we've grown up together, and I know if I need anything, I can call them up and they will be there for me, just like my friends from kindergarten.”
August 2018
Karlie shuts down feud rumors with a BTS post from Taylor’s Reputation World Tour:
October 2018
Karlie films 73 Questions and is asked about Taylor, saying, “The world needs to know? Well, Jennifer Lawrence was interested. Jen, don't worry, Taylor and I are still really good friends.”
October 2018
Karlie gets married, and Taylor doesn’t show. Page Six reports that Karlie’s rep says Tay was “unable to attend due to prior commitments.”
March 2019
Karlie is asked about Taylor on Watch What Happens Live (specifically about an essay Tay wrote about friendships for Elle), and says, “Taylor is incredible, and I feel really lucky to call her a friend, and she's one of the hardest working women, and I loved her essay.”
August 2019
Karlie appears on Scooter Braun’s Instagram, a huuuuuuuge yikes considering Scooter’s ongoing drama with Tay.
January 2021
Taylor drops “It’s Time to Go,” and fans think these lyrics specifically are about Karlie. Ahem: “When the words of a sister come back in whispers / That prove she was not in fact what she seemed / Not a twin from your dreams / She’s a crook who was caught.”
August 2023
Karlie shocks literally everyone by showing up at Taylor’s Eras Tour stop in Los Angeles—notably in the stands and not the VIP tent.
June 2026
The Crazy Days and Nights blog drops a blind item reading, “I guess talking almost every day during the pregnancy brought the model and the singer close enough again to get the wedding invite.”
Soon after, TMZ reports that the former best friends have “officially buried the hatchet” and that “Taylor wants Karlie at her wedding.” The outlet also confirms there were “real issues between them,” but that they made up “quite some time ago” and it’s “all water under the bridge.”
July 2026
And the rumors are true! Karlie shows up to Taylor’s wedding in gold, and fans are both shocked and delighted.
Nature really is healing.
