Whether you like her music or not, everyone has heard about Taylor Swift in some way, shape, or form. And when you think about Taylor, there may be a few things that initially come to mind, but the most general thing that people associate her with, especially in more recent years, is for bringing back the idea of a squad.
Swift has been in the entertainment industry ever since she released her self-titled debut album back in 2006. In 2015, Taylor released her iconic and star-studded "Bad Blood" music video, re-popularizing the notion of a squad, with it subsequently exploding within the world of pop culture.
With every new friend, the public grew more and more attached to the image of Swift as a "squad leader." The media became so obsessed with her friendships that headlines quickly began to appear, speculating who was in and who was out of Swift’s squad. Though most of the time these headlines were just rumors, there are in fact some people who Swift has fallen out with.
Taylor may have tons of friends, but you can’t make friends without making a few enemies along the way. So, if you want to find out 15 of Taylor Swift’s celebrity besties and 5 who should stay away, just keep on reading.
20 Bestie: Mariska Hargitay Inspired Swift
Hargitay and Swift met one year when they both attended the Met Gala. Swift approached Hargitay, expressing how she was such a big fan of her show Law & Order that she named one of her cats after Hargitay’s character, Olivia Benson. Though their initial interaction was brief, in 2014 the two met again at an Ingrid Michaelson concert where Swift gave Hargitay and her husband a ride home.
Hargitay would go on to become a member of Swift’s squad, making a cameo appearance in her "Bad Blood" music video as well as joining her on stage at one of her shows on the 1989 tour.
Not only has Hargitay supported Swift in her career, but Swift also paid that same respect—literally. In 2017, Swift was said to have given an "extremely generous financial investment" to Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation, according to the charity’s CEO Maile M. Zambuto. Hargitay has had nothing but great things to say about her friendship with Swift: "She is so lovely and mature and has really inspired me."
19 Bestie: Serena Williams And Swift Have Girls Night
There’s no definitive timeline that confirms when Swift and Williams met, but Swift introduced their friendship to the world in 2015 when she brought Williams out on stage during a London show on her 1989 tour. The pair caught up a year later when Swift, Williams, and some other friends attended a show at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City.
Williams does not speak about her relationship with Swift publicly, and the two don’t often get the chance to hang out in a public setting. It’s not due to any hard feelings, but most likely because of their hectic schedules. With Williams’ new daughter and Swift’s extensive tour schedule, it doesn’t leave much time for a girls' night out. But we’re sure the two remain connected, as they do run in the same circle of friends.
18 Bestie: Troye Sivan Sang His Heart Out
Sivan has never publicly addressed how he met Swift, but he did share the story on how he ended up performing with her at one of her shows. On The Late Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Sivan shared how he had asked Swift for tickets to her Reputation tour stop at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. In response, Swift said that he was welcome to come to the show if he would sing with her on stage.
Despite Sivan’s nerves being so intense, as he had never performed in front of such a large group of people, he sang with Swift.
According to Sivan, he and Swift don’t have that close of a friendship, having only hung out a handful of times, but Sivan does consider her to be one of his biggest musical inspirations. Sivan told his Instagram followers that Swift was one of the first individuals to hear his second studio album Bloom and that her reaction could not have been more supportive. Sivan also defended Swift on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, saying that despite all the rumors of mean girl tendencies, Sivan had “had nothing but unbelievably positive interactions with her,” and that Swift is "extraordinarily generous and giving and sweet and talented." Sounds to us like they’re pretty good friends after all!
17 Better Stay Away: Chloë Grace Moretz Doesn't Want To Be Part Of The Squad
Swift and Moretz have never had any real or direct conflict, however, Moritz has publicly stated that she is not a fan of Swift’s concept of having a squad. Moretz revealed in an interview with Complex that she had previously met Swift and received an invitation to be in her squad, but she very quickly denied the invitation and denounced the concept of having a squad in the first place. Moretz explained that she thought it perpetuated an idea of exclusivity, one that she was not comfortable promoting.
In the same interview, Moretz did note that Swift is "a very talented person." So, there is no real drama that unfolded between the two, just a simple denial of joining her group of friends. Moretz seems to have made the choice not to be friends with Swift rather than having been outcasted by her in some type of internet-breaking drama.
16 Bestie: Jaime King Has Much Love For Her
Though no one is exactly sure of its start, Swift and King have a very close friendship that soon evolved into something even deeper. Swift managed to intertwine herself into the familial structure of King’s family when she was asked to be the godmother of King’s son, Leo Thames Newman.
And if that wasn’t enough, after Leo received a life-saving surgery at only 20 weeks old, Swift made a donation in honor of his birthday to the doctor and team of medical professionals who literally saved his life.
King doesn’t often or publicly speak about her relationship with Swift, but she did reveal in an interview with Elle Swift’s most special traits: "She's so loving and so giving and so generous and she does everything from her heart and she's incredibly brave and authentic. It's a very rare thing to come across." Who says you can’t choose your family? Swift and King seem to have done just that.
15 Bestie: Lena Dunham Cherishes Swift
Swift and Dunham first began to interact with one another on Twitter in 2012 when Dunham tweeted out her love for Swift and her album Red, and Swift reciprocated that love for Dunham’s television show Girls. Swift made the first move, followed Dunham, and the two were direct messaging one another in a matter of minutes. Swift and Dunham went on to become better friends, with Dunham joining Swift on stage on the New Jersey stop of her 1989 tour.
Dunham has been very vocal about how much Swift’s music, and more importantly her friendship, means to her. "Long before she was my friend, she was my friend in my head. I was listening to her while I wrote my first film, while I wrote the first season of [her show] Girls, while I wrote the second season of Girls — so she's definitely a soundtrack to many of my feelings," said Dunham to ET. And now in 2018, Dunham is still supporting her like she was from day one. In March of 2018, she praised for Swift’s "Delicate" music video, and how proud she was of Swift's portrayal of living life in the public eye. Dunham must have pinched herself a few times to remind herself that this friendship is real.
14 Bestie: Todrick Hall Was Recruited
Swift and Hall met back in September of 2015 after Swift had seen a video of Hall performing a mash-up of some of her most popular songs. Swift shared Hall’s video in a tweet, earning an excited response from Hall.
By the end of the month, the pair had met up in person and were on track to become the great friends that they are today.
In 2017, Swift recruited Hall to dance in her "Look What You Made Me Do" music video. Though he received major backlash for his participation, Hall not only fiercely defended his choice to be in the video but also shut down any of Swift’s haters making additional commentary about her personality. In a 2018 interview with Billboard, he elaborated on their friendship, saying: "I just want to make sure that Taylor and I stay friends for a long time because I really value who she is as a human being."
13 Better Stay Away: Harry Styles Was Trouble
Swift and Style’s strained relationship sprouted from their romantic relationship that happened over a very short period of time in 2012. In early December of 2012, the pair went public with their relationship, but it went cold fast as they were over in January of 2013. After the split, in an interview with Us Weekly, Styles predicted that Swift would write a song about their relationship. Well, he hit the nail on the head because on Swift’s 1989 album, there were three songs rumored to be about Styles. Swift also confirmed that "I Knew You Were Trouble" off of her Red album was also written about Styles.
Naturally, Taylor did throw some not-so-subtle shade at Styles during her 2013 Grammy performance, of "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." She also dissed him in her 2013 Video Music Awards acceptance speech, where she sarcastically thanked him for inspiring the song. That’s not to say that Styles never got his own musical revenge because he did. He supposedly penned One Direction's hit "Perfect" and "Two Ghosts," off of his own song off his debut solo album, about Swift. Though there’s no real ongoing drama between the two, this relationship is one best left in the past.
12 Bestie: Hailee Steinfeld Made The Cut
In an interview with UK’s MTV, Steinfeld revealed that she and Swift met through their mutual friend Emma Stone at a pre-Oscar party way back in 2011. "We kind of saw each other a bunch, ran in the same circle for a minute, exchanged numbers and became really close."
Apparently, they were close enough that Swift recruited Steinfeld to be in her 2015 "Bad Blood" music video and invited her to many group hangouts and events.
Apparently, to Steinfeld they were never as close as they made out to be in the public eye, which she admitted in a 2016 interview with Seventeen: "I think people think we spend a lot more time together than we actually do!" Despite this, Steinfeld only has love for Swift noting that she is "amazing," and blames their infrequent get-togethers on her own busy schedule, admitting that she’s rarely in the same place at the same time as her friends. Hopefully Swift and Steinfeld will get the long-overdue catch-up that they deserve.
11 Bestie: Haim Travelled With Swift
Like a couple other of Swift’s friendships, her bond with Alana, Este, and Danielle of the band Haim began on Twitter when they expressed their love for one of Swift's songs. However, the group first met in person in December of 2014. The quartet continued their friendship privately, occasionally making appearances on each other’s social media and at a few public events throughout the year. It was in 2015 that they took their status from friends to BFFs when they went on a girls' trip to Hawaii.
Taylor seems to love her surrogate sisters so much that she broke her two-month Instagram hiatus in 2017 to promote Haim’s new music. Commenting on the pop star’s publicity for their music, Alana said in an interview with USA Today: "It's so nice when your friends support you, and we were so nervous to put out anything, and to get that love and feedback was so nice." Did they expect anything less from honorary sister Swift?
10 Bestie: Camila Cabello Wrote It Out
The world was first made aware of the duo’s friendship when Swift held a star-studded bash at her home in honohonorCabello’s 18th birthday. Though the two were not very flashy with their friendship, it was quietly getting stronger behind the scenes.
So much so that Cabello even went as far as to let the world know that Swift had helped her during the time of her exit from Fifth Harmony, saying that Swift had told her to "just write it out."
In just a short amount of time, Cabello has become a great friend of Swift’s, something that she still cannot believe, as Swift served as one of Cabello’s early musical inspirations. In an interview with Teen Vogue in 2015, she recalls Swift telling her how proud she was of her: "I told her how much it meant to me that she said that because she was one of the artists that inspired me to write songs in the first place and she is one of my biggest musical influences." Working with your bestie and musical idol—a dream come true!
9 Better Stay Away: Katy Perry Had A Major Tiff
Believe it or not, there was a time before Perry and Swift’s feud. The two actually go way back with traces of their early friendship dating back to 2008. However, it was a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone that sparked the flame that would ignite their long-term feud. Swift spoke of an unnamed frienemy, assumed to be Perry, and said: "She did something so horrible. I was like, 'Oh, we're just straight-up enemies.’ She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me." In response, Perry tweeted out "Watch out for the Regina George in sheep's clothing..." confirming that she was the individual on the other side Swift’s story.
Then in 2015, Swift released the iconic "Bad Blood" music video in an attempt to tell her side of the feud. In a tweet, Perry slams Swift for preaching how women should not be pit against other women when she essentially made the entire "Bad Blood" music video about just that. However, in September of 2016, Perry seemed to hint at the possibility of reconciliation, indicating that she’d love to collaborate with Swift if she were to apologize. It seemed like Perry was the one to take the high road and resolve the feud. In May of 2018, Swift recorded an Instagram video of a peace offering Perry had sent her to end their rivalry. Though their drama has been resolved, there is no real evidence that the two are friends. Let's just say they're acquaintances and call it a day.
8 Bestie: Shawn Mendes And Swift Are A Duo
Mendes and Swift’s friendship was sprung on the world quite suddenly, but they had most likely always been friendly due to their common friendship with Camila Cabello. This became evident when Swift invited Mendes to her 25th birthday party in 2014. But the pair seemed to be closer than it seemed because in 2015, Swift invited Mendes to open up for her for a month on her 1989 tour and even brought him out on stage during her Seattle, Washington stop to have the crowd wish Mendes a happy 17th birthday.
From then on, the duo has been quite close, sitting next to one another at award shows and continuing their initial act of performing together, with their most recent collaboration being on one of the Reputation tour stops.
Of Swift, Mendes said in a 2016 interview with Much.com: "Something I learned from watching Taylor on stage was that there’s no amount of success that allows you to stop working hard." We hope for Mendes’ sake that he gets to collaborate with his friend and mentor once again. Perhaps on a joint tour?
7 Bestie: Lily Aldridge And Swift Support Each Other
Though it may come as a surprise, the roots of Aldridge and Swift’s friendship do not originate from the Victoria’s Secret runway but a Kings Of Leon concert. Aldridge, who is married to the band’s frontman Caleb Followill, met Swift at one of their shows, where they discovered that they were neighbours in Nashville, Tennessee. Aldridge recounts to HuffPost Live that they became best friends soon after.
Aldridge is very supportive of Swift’s friendship and the rest of their squad. When their friend group was criticized by some of their Hollywood peers, Aldridge was quick to defend herself, Swift, and the rest of the squad. "We are a really nice group of women who support each other and really, genuinely have each others' back and it's awesome," said Aldridge to E! News in late 2016. Aldridge is clearly a girl’s girl who has her friend's backs no matter what. Swift sure knows how to pick 'em!
6 Bestie: Karlie Kloss Made It On Vogue
Swift and Kloss’ friendship began when Swift mentioned in a 2012 Vogue interview that she loved Kloss and hoped they could one day bake cookies together. Kloss accepted Swift’s informal invitation via Twitter. Though it was never confirmed if those cookies were ever baked, Swift and Kloss did meet up publicly for the first time at the 2013 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
Since then, they have been joined at the hip; road-tripping together, sitting court side at a New York Knicks game, walking red carpets, even appearing together on a March 2015 Vogue cover.
However, over the past couple of years, the public began to notice that Swift and Kloss didn’t appear to be so close as they had been before. It wasn’t long until there were headlines about Swift and Kloss’ supposed deteriorating friendship. The two took it upon themselves to shut the rumours down in August of 2018, when Kloss snapped a selfie with Swift after she had attended her Reputation tour show in Nashville, Tennessee writing: "No one puts on a show like @taylorswift" as her caption. Nothing can extinguish the flame of friendship, especially not a handful of petty rumors. Haven’t the media learned by now?
5 Better Stay Away: Kanye West Went Public
The beginning of Kanye West and Swift’s rocky relationship began at the 2009 Video Music Awards when West barged onstage as Swift accepted the award for Best Female Video, insisting that Beyonce deserved to win. After West’s outburst at the VMA’s, their rivalry received some attention, but not nearly as much as it would receive in the coming years. The pair even made up publicly when Swift presented West with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2015 VMAs — or so we thought.
It wasn’t until West released his track "Famous" from his album The Life of Pablo, which included a derogatory lyric about Swift, that their drama escalated to a whole new level. Swift’s fan’s instantly attacked West for the use of the inappropriate lyrics, but West insisted that Swift had been aware and even approved them over a phone call before releasing the song. Swift then chimed in, claiming that West had added in a portion that she had absolutely not approved of. Since then, Swift and West’s feud has gone on in a very public manner, with no likelihood of resolution at this point.
4 Bestie: Gigi Hadid Is Always There For Her
Swift and Hadid's friendship dates back to 2014 when Swift photo bombed a picture of Hadid and model Karlie Kloss, with Hadid tweeting out the image and tagging Swift in the process. Soon after, in 2015 Hadid appeared in the iconic and star-studded "Bad Blood" music video, explaining in a video interview with W magazine that she Swift wanted the group dynamic of the video to be a reminder of how important it is to support your girl friends: "For her, it was a way to show that she supports her friends and we support her back… We want to be known as the group of girls that are known for our kindness rather than our cattiness."
Ever since, the two have developed an extremely close friendship with one another and serve as the prime example of what it means to be a supportive friend.
Hadid is often spotted screaming the lyrics and dancing along at Swift’s shows, vocalizing post-show how proud she is to watch Swift performing.
3 Bestie: Ed Sheeran And Swift Perform Together
Swift and Sheehan's friendship can be traced back as early as 2012, when the pair collaborated to record their hit song "Everything Has Changed." Swift even invited Sheeran to open for her on her Red tour in 2013. Swift not only introduced the rest of the world to Sheeran’s music, but to their friendship as well. Since then, they have performed countless times together, making surprise appearances at one another’s concerts, and getting up to silly shenanigans behind the scenes, as documented on social media.
Of Swift, Sheeran said in an interview with Rolling Stone: "She would be there if everything ended for me," and that "Taylor is kind of an anomaly in that sense." After a comment like that, there’s no questioning why the pair’s friendship has lasted this long.
2 Bestie: Selena Gomez And Swift Are #FriendshipGoals
Funnily enough, Swift and Gomez first became close friends in 2008 while they were dating Joe and Nick Jonas, respectively. Though their individual romantic relationships did not stick, something even better did: their long-lasting friendship.
And 10 years later, they are still going strong. After countless red carpet appearances, IG pictures, and years of mutual support, Swift and Gomez have developed a relationship that is renowned in the world of celebrity friendships.
While making a guest appearance on Swift’s Reputation tour, Gomez told the audience: "The reason why she has been one of my best friends is because this person has never ever judged a single decision I've made. She's always met me where I've been. She's encouraged me when I've had nothing to be encouraged about." We don’t know about you, but we can bet that Swift and Gomez will be absolute best friends forever.
1 Better Stay Away: Kim Kardashian-West Supports Her Husband
Kim Kardashian-West and Swift’s relationship hasn’t always been the tense and strained one the public knows today. Actually, the two were quite friendly, as Kardashian-West had never been directly involved in the drama between her now-husband and Swift. From 2012 up until 2015, it was smooth sailing for Swift and Kardashian-West— until February of 2016, when the "Famous" incident occurred.
Initially, Kardashian-West was not involved in the drama, and it was kept strictly between Taylor and Kanye. But when Swift began denying the accusations that she was aware of the lyric about her in "Famous," Kardashian-West had had enough of her husband being portrayed as the villain. She spoke out about the situation in an interview with GQ and claimed that Swift was attempting to make herself look like the victim. After touching on the issue again in an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kardashian-West shocked the world and released the recording of the phone call between Swift and West, making it clear whose side she was on, and will continue to be on. So, unless Swift settles her drama with West, we don’t think this feud will be going away either.
Sources: Bustle, Teen Vogue, People, Elle, Billboard
