Splash News, AKM-GSITaylor Swift has dated everybody. So when she gets to me, I gotta know: Should I date her or not ;)?
—D. Humpty, via Facebook
If by "everybody" you mean Jake Gyllenhaal, Taylor Lautner, Conor Kennedy and John Mayer, as well as, most recently, Harry Styles, then, yes, sure, she's dated "everybody."
Do Swift's men get any kind of boost from dating her? Or does her kiss come with a curse (and maybe a song about you)? I found out.
I combined data from sources including Q Scores, IMDb's Starmeter, record sales and casting news. And overall, my judgment is thus:
Dating Taylor Swift, like spinach and sunshine, is, generally, good for you.
Let's start with Lautner, who dated Swift for like a minute in late 2009. Aside from the Twilight series, he's had no major film successes. But then again, he doesn't need any if he has the Twilight series—the gift that will keep on giving to his bank account pretty much forever.
Lautner's Starmeter popularity reached its peak in late 2009—again, around the same time he was dating Swift—but his Q Score among women ages 18 to 49 has jumped significantly, for 45 percent to 53 percent.
In other words, if there is a Taylor Swift curse, Lautner didn't catch it.
Ditto with John Mayer.
His Q Score appeal is slightly stronger among men (his core audience), and he's continued to sell music--well—since he and Swift broke up circa the end of 2009-ish. He put out his third No. 1 record just this year, in May, and let's not forget the news bump he got after Swift released that song that was supposedly about him.
Finally, let's look at Gyllenhaal.
Of all of Swift's exes, he seems to have flourished the most. Sure, his Starmeter has dipped since 2010, the year he dated Swift. But statistically, his fame level is about the same, according to the Q Scores folk. Plus, that company tells me, his actual Q Score—that ability to resonate emotionally with consumers--has only gone up, from 19 to 24 percent—since he dated Swift.
So, if, one day, Taylor Swift shows up at your door—and she won't—you'll likely have only good things in store.
Right, Harry Styles?