A Much-Needed Update on Taylor Swift’s Friend Group

Hi, hello, yes, Taylena is still going strong 17 years later. The pair first met as teens when they were each dating Jonas Brothers, and they walked away from both relationships with an unbreakable bond. Taylor and Selena have truly been through it all together, from starring in the “Bad Blood” music video to dishing and dancing at awards shows to Tay giving a speech at Sel’s wedding!

Deep Dive Into Their Friendship

Jack and Taylor are a creative force to be reckoned with. Case in point: three of Taylor’s four Album of the Year Grammys were awarded for records they worked on together. The duo first started collaborating in 2013, and since then, Taylor has written a beautiful song inspired by Jack’s love life, he’s fiercely defended her in the gossip mill, and they provided us with the “Getaway Car” bridge in less than a minute. And while they didn’t collab again for TLOAS, fret not—there’s no bad blood between these two.

Deep Dive Into Their Friendship

Real ones know that Taylor and Ed have been besties since the Red era. He not only joined her on tour in support of the album, but has collaborated with her multiple times throughout the years. During a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone, Ed spoke on his friendship with Taylor, saying, “I always stick up for Taylor.” That same year, Taylor penned an essay about Ed for TIME's 100 Most Influential People issue. And while Ed was seemingly the last person to find out about Tay’s engagement, that was just an oversight.

Sabrina Carpenter literally manifested her friendship with Taylor when she used to cover her songs on YouTube. The Cosmo cover star has joined Taylor on the Eras Tour, earned a coveted invite to her birthday party, and hung out with her at Coachella. Most recently: They collaborated on the title track for The Life of a Showgirl, which—as Taylor revealed in her launch party movie—“When we were writing it, we finished it, and I just kind of thought, I want Sabrina to sing on this so bad.”

Deep Dive Into Their Friendship

Ashley and Taylor met through Emma Stone, and they’ve been best buds ever since. So much so, that Tay’s hidden message for “22” in her Red album booklet name-drops her. “Ashley, Dianna, Claire, Selena,” the message reads, referring to Ashley, Dianna Agron, Claire Winter, and Selena Gomez. Ashley is in the music video for the track, and she celebrates Tay’s birthday and the Fourth of July with her almost every year. She was also fully at the Super Bowl with Taylor this year explaining football to Ice Spice.

Speaking of Emma! Swifties are, like, 90 percent sure that Tay’s Speak Now vault track “When Emma Falls in Love” is about Emma Stone. The actor continues to play coy about whether the song is actually about her, but her friendship with Taylor dates back to 2008. Since then, Taylor hooked Emma up with Eras tour tickets and supported her at the premiere of her Oscar-winning movie, Poor Things. When Emma won Best Actress at the 2024 Oscars, she subtly referenced Taylor’s song “Bigger Than The Whole Sky.”

Deep Dive Into Their Friendship

Danielle, Este, and Alana Haim have been girls’ girls from the beginning of time. The sisters cemented their spot as Taylor’s BFFs when they dodged a question about who she should date after her split with Harry Styles in 2013. “T.T. Swift, don’t date someone else. Come out with us,” Alana said at the time. The girls have toured with Taylor, attended multiple of her famous Fourth of July parties, collaborated with her (twice!), and starred in the “Bejeweled” music video. Taylor puts it best: “Cancel the DNA test I’m the 4th Haim sister.”

Deep Dive Into Their Friendship

Not only does Zoë Kravitz have songwriting and background vocal credits on Taylor’s track, “Lavender Haze”—the actor also confided in Tay during the COVID-19 pandemic when they were quarantined in London. Zoë even bunked with Taylor a second time after the L.A. wildfires destroyed her home—and Tay didn't even mind when Zoë's mom, Lisa Bonet, accidentally unleashed a snake in her home.

Deep Dive Into Their Friendship

Once she started dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Tay entered her WAG era and formed an adorable friendship with Brittany Mahomes. They bonded during Chiefs games, and they're since become inseparable, with Tay even flying down to Nashville to celebrate Britt's 30th birthday back in August.

Deep Dive Into Their Friendship

Before she hopped on the Speak Now vault track “Castles Crumbling,” Hayley Williams met her when they were starting out in the industry, and as she recounted on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, they were actually introduced by Taylor's mom, Andrea.And all these years later, Paramore joined Taylor on the international leg of the Eras tour. As Tay wrote on Instagram at the time, “@yelyahwilliams and I have been friends since we were teens in Nashville and now we get to frolic around the UK/Europe next summer??? I’m screaming???”

Another Eras-tour-opener-turned-bestie is Gracie Abrams, who’s gushed about Taylor and her influence from the beginning of her own music career. Gracie even collaborated with Aaron Dessner at Long Pond Studios after Folklore dropped, and she celebrated Tay’s birthday with her in 2023. The “Feels Like” singer dedicated a post to Tay on Instagram, writing, “Happy birthday, I love you so much I’m always on the floor about it @taylorswift.”

Deep Dive Into Their Friendship

Keleigh’s friendship with Tay is a thing of dreams: She started out as a Swiftie who attended the singer’s 1989 World Tour in 2015, and now, she’s starred in her “I Bet You Think About Me” music video with her husband, Miles Teller. Keleigh also attended the 2024 Golden Globes as Taylor’s date. “Romy and Michele (and Tree) take the globes ❤️,” she referenced Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion alongside pics with Taylor and her publicist, Tree Paine, on Instagram.

Sophie and Tay’s friendship dates back to 2017, but they didn’t meet IRL until they both made an appearance on The Graham Norton Show with nearly identical haircuts. They’re both exes of Joe Jonas, aka “Mr. Perfectly Fine,” and Taylor has shown support for the Game of Thrones alum during her dramatic divorce from the “Waffle H0use” singer. Sophie and her daughters stayed at Taylor’s NYC home as she dealt with her divorce, and most recently, Sophie gave a shoutout to TLOAS, writing, “My girl’s done it again,” in her IG Story.

Deep Dive Into Their Friendship

These two actually met all the way back in 2012, but they didn’t collaborate until 2022’s Midnights. Taylor and Lana likely connected through their producer and mutual friend, Jack Antonoff, and they graced us with the 🤌 masterpiece 🤌 that is “Snow on the Beach.” Taylor announced the collaboration with an Instagram post, saying, “Lana Del Rey, in my opinion, is one of the best musical artists ever. The fact that I get to exist at the same time as her is an honor and a privilege and the fact that she would be so generous as to collaborate with us on this song is something I’m going to be grateful for for life.” Most recently, Lana joined Taylor at the 2024 Grammys and appeared in her Super Bowl suite.

Something about Taylor and Ice just works. The duo met when they joined forces for the “Karma” remix in 2023. “We went to the studio and she is so humble and so nice,” Ice told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “I kid you not. I pulled up to the studio and she outside waiting for me.” Since then, they’ve hung out at multiple Super Bowls, danced together at award shows, and chilled at Coachella. “Shout-out to Taylor motherfucking Swift! I love you! And I love karma too, bitch,” Ice shouted during her 2024 Coachella set.

Deep Dive Into Their Friendship

Gigi is an OG member of The Squad™️, meaning: she was very much there during the 1989 era when the term was coined by the media. She and Taylor have been BFFs ever since, as Tay sported her cashmere fashion brand, Guest In Residence, and Gigi has attended coveted dinners and Taylor’s birthday parties. B-Coop hasn’t officially made his way into The Squad™️, but Tay reportedly lent one of her houses to Gigi and her boyfriend as a “secret love nest,” lol.

Deep Dive Into Their Friendship

The National’s Aaron Dessner and Taylor have grown close through collaborating on Folklore, Evermore, Midnights, and his project with Bon Iver and Big Red Machine. Aaron lent his talents to Taylor’s Long Pond Studio Sessions, performed with her at the Grammys and the Eras tour, and even appeared in her music video for “I Bet You Think About Me.”

Taylor teamed up with Phoebe Bridgers on her Red vault track, “Nothing New,” and the pair has been open about their close bond since it dropped in 2021. As she presented Taylor with the 2023 iHeartRadio Innovator Award, the “I Know the End” singer gushed, “I’m grateful to have grown up in a world with Taylor Swift in it.” Shortly after, Phoebe joined Taylor on the Eras Tour and performed their vault track with her on several dates. “You’re my hero,” Phoebe told Taylor before they performed together for the last time. Taylor’s reply? “Thank you for being the friend that you’ve been to me.”