Welcome to Taylor Swift's truth.
The pop superstar looked back at her iconic girl squad era in a lengthy prologue penned for 1989 (Taylor's Version), recalling how during the making of the 2014 album—which she re-recorded in her quest to take ownership of all her music—she "swore off hanging out with guys" to avoid sparking romance rumors.
"It became clear to me that for me there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with," Taylor wrote Oct. 27. "If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him."
In response to the public fascination about her love life, Taylor said she "swore off dating" to focus on her female friendships, reasoning that if "I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn't sensationalize or sexualize that—right?"
Unfortunately, the singer was far from out of the woods and in the clear. As she noted, "I would learn later on that people could and people would."
"There was so much that I didn't know then, and looking back I see what a good thing that was," Taylor continued. "It turns out that the cocktail of naïveté, hunger for adventure and freedom can lead to some nasty hangovers, metaphorically speaking. Of course everyone had something to say, but they always will."
The 34-year-old added that she "learned lessons," "paid prices" and realized how to "shake it off" during this time—as a cheeky reference to 1989's lead single.
Addressing her fans, Taylor thanked those "who heard the wink and humor in 'Blank Space' and maybe even empathized with the pain behind the satire," as well as Swifties "who knew that maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult)."
Indeed, Taylor's close ties with the likes of Karlie Kloss and Dianna Agron during the 1989 era led to romantic speculations. In fact, she previously slammed the false narrative that her friendships were more than platonic, writing on X (formerly known as Twitter) in December 2014 that as "my 25th birthday present from the media, I'd like for you to stop accusing all my friends of dating me."
Earlier this year, Dianna—who hung out with Taylor fairly regularly in 2011 and 2012—addressed her connection to the Grammy winner. When asked how she felt about the way the two were "made out by the media and some fans to be in a relationship," the Glee alum told Rolling Stone, "That is so interesting. I mean, there have been many stories about my dating life that are so wildly untrue. That's funny."
So, who is in Taylor's squad these days? Keep reading to find out.
Brittany Mahomes
They're cheer captains and they're on the bleachers.
Now that Taylor Swift is dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, she has welcomed another WAG into her crew.
Since beginning her romance with Kelce, Swift has become friends with Brittany Mahomes, the wife of the team's quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.
Not only have the duo been spotted cheering on the team at several games, but but the Kansas City Current co-owner joined Swift and several of her celeb friends, including Blake Lively and Sophie Turner, for a group dinner on Sept. 30 in New York City.
Sophie Turner
Well, it's clear Swift is House Turner.
Since Sophie Turner's split with Joe Jonas on Sept. 5, the Game of Thrones star has frequently been spotted with Swift, who dated The Jonas Brothers singer for several months in 2008.
The friends were first photographed together when they stepped out for dinner in NYC on Sept. 19, while Turner and Swift—who famously penned the song "Mr. Perfectly Fine" about her teenage breakup with Jonas—enjoyed another girls' night out several days later.
Turner was in attendance at the second NFL game Swift attended in support of Kelce, which came after she joined the "The 1" singer, Mahomes and Lively for a meal.
And, amid her divorce, Turner posted a photo of what appeared to be her wrist wearing a friendship bracelet spelling "Fearless," the name of Swift's 2008 album.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds
Yep, James, Inez and Betty's parents are still very much on Swift's team, the trio becoming close after the singer befriended the Gossip Girl alum in 2015.
In fact, she's so tight with the power couple that their children—including baby No. 4, whose name Swift has yet to reveal in a song—call her Aunt Taylor and have played integral roles in some of her hit songs.
Often by Swift's side on her NYC adventures, Lively became the Grammy winner's collaborator when she directed the music video for Swift's song "I Bet You Think About Me" in 2021.
"I finally got to work with the brilliant, brave, & wickedly funny @blakelively on her directorial debut," Swift raved on Instagram and Twitter at the time. "Join us as we raise a toast, and a little hell."
Following her breakup with Joe Alwyn in April 2023, Swift was spotted with the couple in a getaway car—literally—when they were photographed catching a ride together after having dinner at Manhattan hotspot Casa Cipriani.
Of course, Lively and Reynolds were seated right next to Swift during the squad's appearance at Metlife Stadium for the Chiefs' game on Oct. 1. And after the headline-making outing, Reynolds discreetly weighed in on the experience.
"It's a lot of fun," he told Extra during the Oct. 9 Bring Change to Mind Gala in NYC. "The NFL right now is reaching a kind of fever pitch that is usually only reserved for the Super Bowl, but here we are at the fourth or fifth game of the year and it's already happening."
Hugh Jackman
One of the most surprising additions to Swift's new squad was Hugh Jackman, with the Greatest Showman star attended the Oct. 1. game between the Chiefs and the New York Jets, piling into a VIP suite that included his good friend Ryan Reynolds and his wife, two longtime members of Swift's inner circle.
Jackman's outing with Swift & Co. came just after the recent news that the Wolverine star and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness had separated after 27 years of marriage.
Selena Gomez
Look at them now! Close friends since 2008, Swift and Selena Gomez are still as tight as ever.
Shortly after they were spotted dancing together in the audience at the 2023 MTV VMAs, Gomez shared several selfies with her BFF in a Sept. 16 Instagram post.
"Thas my best frien -she a real bad," Gomez captioned the snaps, quoting Saweetie's 2021 song "Best Friend."
In the pics, taken by Swift, the two pop stars appear to be having dinner outdoors at an oceanfront restaurant. In one photo, the "Blank Space" singer is kissing Gomez on the cheek.
Over the summer, the pair celebrated the Fourth of July together with several other friends at the "Style" singer's Independence Day party. And in August, the Only Murders in the Building star attended one of the Eras tour shows with her sister Gracie Teefey.
Later that month, when Gomez released her new song "Single Soon," Swift expressed her support by sharing the music video on her Instagram Stories, writing, "When ur bestie is the bestest."
Antoni Porowski
Swift has been friends with Antoni Porowski for quite some time, even recruiting the Queer Eye star and his cast members Karamo, Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France and Bobby Berk to make an appearance in her star-studded "You Need to Calm Down" music video in 2019. Later that year, Swift and Porowski attended a Madonna concert together, and he was one of the many celebs to sit in the stacked VIP suite at the Chiefs-Jets game on Oct. 1.
Zoë Kravitz, Laura Dern and Greta Gerwig
The ultimate GNO FOMO!
Swift enjoyed a star-studded outing on Sept. 19 in NYC, stepping out for dinner with Big Little Lies stars Laura Dern and Zoë Kravitz, along with Barbie director Greta Gerwig.
The night out served as a reunion of sorts for all four parties—in addition to working alongside Kravitz in the HBO drama, Laura starred in Gerwig's 2019 adaptation of Little Women as well as Swift's music video for "Bejeweled" last year.
And Kravitz is one of the Grammy winner's longtime pals and recently served as a collaborator when she helped co-write "Lavender Haze" and "Karma" on Swift's recent Midnights album. The week prior to their outing with Dern and Gerwig, Swift and Kravitz stepped out for another dinner in the Big Apple, this time with Kravitz's boyfriend Channing Tatum, as well as Lively, Reynolds and Gigi Hadid, a longtime member of Swift's squad.
Sabrina Carpenter
14 years after she covered "Picture to Burn" in her first ever YouTube video, Sabrina Carpenter was picked to perform as the opening act for Swift's Eras Tour shows in Mexico, calling it "a dream come true" for her.
"Watching her is a masterclass in itself," Carpenter gushed to Rolling Stone. "Obviously, she’s very good with words. So I feel a lot more comfortable that I’m going into a situation with someone that I admire so much and I’m just gonna, like, study."
Not only was Carpenter part of the celeb crew that attended the Jets game on Oct. 1, she's set to serve as Swift's opener at her concerts in Argentina and Brazil next month and will also support the "Cruel Summer" singer in Asia and Australia.
On Oct. 18, Carpenter covered "I Knew You Were Trouble" for Spotify Singles, which received Swift's approval on her Instagram Story, where she wrote, "Wow, she nailed it."