Joe Alwyn has been slammed on social media for talking about his relationship and subsequent break-up with Taylor Swift.
The 33-year-old Kinds of Kindness actor kept a low profile immediately after the split, and hasn’t actually said much about their almost-seven-year relationship or their break-up. Until now! Alwyn opened up to the Sunday Times Style magazine for its June 16th issue about their relationship, which lasted from 2016 until April 2023. And Taylor Swift’s fans had quite a lot to say about it!
What Did Joe Alwyn Say About Taylor Swift Split?
Perhaps Alwyn is more inclined to talk about his relationship with the 34-year-old "Anti-Hero" hitmaker as fans believe that several songs on her new The Tortured Poets Department album are about him. And perhaps he believes it too, although at the time of writing, he has yet to confirm whether he has listened to it.
He did, however, try to debunk the rumor that the song "The Black Dog," which is the name of a pub in Vauxhall, was about him. In the song, Swift mentions seeing an ex "walk into some bar called The Black Dog" to "pierce new holes in [her] heart." But he confessed that he has ever actually been to Vauxhall, let alone The Black Dog pub... although that doesn't seem to align with what its owner Lily Bottomley said. She previously told Sky News: "I don't want to give too much away. We do have a certain blond regular who frequents, let's just say that."
Joe Alwyn Hopes People Can 'Empathize'
Alwyn told the Sunday Times that he understands "people's curiosity" about his relationship with the "Lavender Haze" singer, but hopes "anyone and everyone can empathize and understand the difficulties that come with the end of a long, loving, fully committed relationship of over six and a half years."
"That is a hard thing to navigate," he continued, adding: "What is unusual and abnormal in this situation is that, one week later, it's suddenly in the public domain and the outside world is able to weigh in."
The Catherine Called Birdy actor then went on to reference the public finding out about their split back in April 2023, and said: "So you have something very real suddenly thrown into a very unreal space: tabloids, social media, press, where it is then dissected, speculated on, pulled out of shape beyond recognition. And the truth is, to that last point, there is always going to be a gap between what is known and what is said. I have made my peace with that."
When asked about some of the conspiracy theories around their split, Alwyn kept a dignified silence, and said that he intends to keep their relationship as private as possible, which he believes is a mutual decision even despite his ex's new album.
"As everyone knows, we together – both of us, mutually – decided to keep the more private details of our relationship private. It was never something to commodify, and I see no reason to change that now. And, look, this is also a little over a year ago now, and I feel fortunate to be in a really great place in my life, professionally and personally."
And although Swift has very publicly moved on with Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce, Alwyn declined to comment on whether he was seeing anyone new. "I'm sure you can appreciate, given the level of noise and scrutiny about my past relationship, why I wouldn't want to just open the door to things like that right now," he told the mag.
Fan Comments
Many of the "Bad Blood" singer's fans criticized the Stars at Noon actor for talking about their relationship even a little bit. "Talking more about the relationship after the breakup than he did all 6 years of the relationship," wrote one fan on a Good Morning America Instagram post. "He's trying so hard to stay relevant," replied one fan.
Another quipped: "A real man never kisses and tells… Unless he has a movie coming out and his manager is bumping him up from unknown status." "He is looking to make news with an old story! Who cares?" commented another. "Guess he needs publicity," said another.
"Long story short it was the wrong guy," stated another fan, as someone else said. "Who cares? Taylor has moved on with a great, tall, handsome real man," followed by a red heart emoji. "She's moved on. We don't care," concurred another. "Tell him to shut up," wrote another disgruntled Swift fan.
