Taylor Swift’s Celebrity BFFs Through the Years

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Taylor Swift's Celebrity BFFs Through the Years

Bad blood? Eh, not much! Since launching her music career in 2006, Taylor Swift has amassed quite the Rolodex of celebrity friends. The Grammy winner — who once admitted that “never being popular as a kid was always an insecurity” of hers — aligned herself with the likes of Cara Delevingne, Gigi Hadid and Karlie Kloss in the early 2010s. In more recent years, however, that exclusive squad has evolved as Swift began to surround herself with a more tight-knit group of ride or dies. Some friends have stayed put, while others have drifted away. “In my 20s I found myself surrounded by girls who wanted to be my friend,” the “Shake It Off” singer wrote in a May 2019 Elle essay. “So I shouted it from the rooftops, posted pictures and celebrated my newfound acceptance into a sisterhood, without realizing that other people might still feel the way I did when I felt so alone.” In the same essay, Swift noted the importance of “learning the difference between lifelong friendships” and what she called “situationships.” “Something about “we’re in our young 20s!” hurls people together into groups that can feel like your chosen family. And maybe they will be for the rest of your life. Or maybe they’ll just be your comrades for an important phase, but not forever,” she continued. “It’s sad but sometimes when you grow, you outgrow relationships. You may leave behind friendships along the way, but you’ll always keep the memories.” As time passed, the country-pop star started to realize who her true friends were: “the ones who stuck around” through her highs and lows. “I have friends and fans in my life who don’t care if I'm #canceled,” she wrote. “They were there in the worst times and they’re here now.” Swift included some of her most trustworthy pals in her 2015 “Bad Blood” music video, including Selena Gomez and Lena Dunham. “There has always been this quality of sisterhood, and I don’t say that in a basic way,” she said of her friendship with Gomez in a January 2020 interview with WSJ. Magazine. “I knew from when I met her I would always have her back.” The “Rare” songstress echoed a similar sentiment about the Cats actress, telling the publication, “We both went through s--t at the same time. She taught me a lot about how I should be treated at a young age.” Scroll down to get the rundown on Swift’s A-list BFFs through the years! [podcast_block]

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Phoebe Bridgers

Bridgers was featured on the song "Nothing New" from Swift's rerecorded album Red (Taylor's Version), which was released in November 2021.

“I think that the specificity of Phoebe’s lyrics and the vulnerability she expresses in her voice when she delivers them is what makes her music so deeply impactful and moving for me as a fan,” the "Maroon" musician told the Los Angeles Times for its April 2022 profile of Bridgers, who was one of many artists opening for Swift on her Eras tour.

In March 2023, the "Motion Sickness" singer presented Swift with the Innovator Award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. In her introduction, Bridgers gushed about her fellow songwriter's authenticity.

"Taylor has always told the truth. She’s written songs from exactly where she is. Her music shifted genre in the same way life does —in the same way being 16 is totally incomparable to being 18, 22, 25, 28. I’m grateful that I’ve grown up in a world with Taylor Swift in it. Or, ‘The World (Taylor’s Version),'" she said.

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Lana Del Rey

The "Summertime Sadness" singer has a featured appearance on Swift’s Midnights album on the track “Snow on the Beach.” She also cowrote the song.

During Swift’s Eras Tour concert in Las Vegas, she gave a shoutout to her pal while introducing her “Snow on the Beach” live rendition. “I just think she’s the best that we have,” she gushed about Del Rey in March 2023. “So I think we need to make it a priority, as a group, to stream, buy, support this album and this artist.”

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John Early

The comedian landed a role in Swift’s “Anti-Hero” music video in October 2022 as one of Swift’s future children.

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Mike Birbiglia

The Orange Is the New Black actor plays one of the singer’s children in her music video for “Anti-Hero.” Birbiglia is also friends with Swift’s frequent collaborator, Antonoff.

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Mary Elizabeth Ellis

The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actress portrays Swift’s future daughter-in-law in the “Anti-Hero” music video. In 2021, Ellis had a featured role in the film Licorice Pizza, which stars Swift’s good friend Alana Haim.

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Kelsea Ballerini

The "Hole in the Bottle" songstress gushed over her close friend while speaking to E! News on the Grammys red carpet in April 2022, raving, "I feel like she constantly makes people proud whether you know her or not. She's always just advocating for change and pushing everything forward for everyone." Swift had the chance to break her own record by winning her fourth Album of the Year trophy, and although she lost to Jon Batiste, Ballerini said she's "always on [Taylor's] team."

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Antoni Porowski

The Queer Eye star — who appeared in Swift's "You Need to Calm Down" music video — and his boyfriend, Kevin Harrington, enjoyed a night out with Swift in New York City in March 2022. "Does anyone else remember the show Big Comfy Couch or was that just a fever dream I had?" Harrington wrote via Instagram, alongside a photo of the "I Bet You Think About Me" singer photo bombing the couple as they relaxed on a sofa.

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Dylan O'Brien

The Teen Wolf alum was Swift's "first choice" to star in the "All Too Well" music video, and the pair formed a tight bond as they worked on the project together. "I had a feeling he would be great at ad libbing and adding nuance to his character, which enriched the story tenfold," the "Nothing New" singer wrote in an email to Bustle in March 2022. "He absolutely blew me away and I feel really lucky that I gained such a great friend from the experience too."

O'Brien was equally effusive about his new BFF, praising her for allowing him and costar Sadie Sink to contribute to the creative process with the dramatic post-dinner party argument. "For someone who’s that meticulous, she’s so trusting. ... Everything was planned to be to music," he told the outlet. "But then when we played out that scene [with dialogue]. [Taylor] immediately marched over and was just like, ‘This is it. I’m going to play this in the video.’ The confidence to just identify that in the moment on set and take in what we were bringing to it [shows how] she’s so sound with relationships and her instincts."

The "All Too Well" short film star made a subtle appearance on Swift’s Midnights album in October 2022. In the song, “Question…” clapping can be heard, and the album's credits reveal that O’Brien, Swift’s brother Austin, music producer Jack Antonoff and his sister Rachel proves the sound effect. The actor also played the drums on the track “Snow on the Beach.”

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Zoë Kravitz

While filming The Batman in London amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Kravitz and Swift were in the same pandemic pod. NYT Magazine editor Jake Silverstein later told Women's Wear Daily that Taylor helped Kravitz with a virtual photoshoot.

"Zoe was being very strict about it anyway because she's shooting a movie," Silverstein said. "And Taylor Swift was in her pod and willing to assist."

While the singer got a "special thanks" shout-out in the December 2021 issue, she also gave Kravitz's performance her approval in March 2022 during the movie's opening weekend. 

"@zoeIsabellaKravitz IS THE CATWOMAN OF DREAMS," Swift proclaimed via her Instagram Story alongside a photo of Kravitz as Catwoman on a movie theater screen. "The Batman was PHENOMENAL!!!"

In October 2022, it was revealed that The Batman star cowrote and provided background vocals on Swift’s opening track, “Lavender Haze.”

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Avril Lavigne

Swift and Lavigne weren’t always besties. In fact, in August 2015, the “Sk8er Boi” singer seemed to shade the “Blank Space” artist via Twitter after Swift appeared to like a Tumblr post unfavorably comparing their meet and greets. But the singer-songwriters quickly squashed any beef a few days later when Lavigne joined the Pennsylvania native on stage to perform “Complicated” during the 1989 tour. Swift called the 2000s hit a “brilliant pop song” at the time — and she is still singing the Canadian guitarist’s praises nearly seven years later. In March 2022, following the release of Lavigne’s album, Love Sux, the “I’m With You” singer showed off a bouquet of flowers from Swift via Instagram. ”Avril, Been dancing around my kitchen to your fabulous new album!! It's AMAZING, like you," read the attached note. "Your forever fan, Taylor."

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Sadie Sink

The Stranger Things star appeared as a younger version of Swift in the short film for the 10-minute version of "All Too Well (Taylor's Version)" in November 2021. That same month, Sink also showed her support for the Miss Americana star during her Saturday Night Live performance.

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Dylan O'Brien

O'Brien played the role of Jake Gyllenhaal in the "All Too Well (Taylor's Version)" short after supporting Swift's music over the years.

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Olivia Rodrigo

The “Déjà Vu” singer, who describes herself as a Swift “fangirl for life,” sparked a friendship with the Grammy winner after dropping her first single, “Drivers License,” in January 2021. After hearing the track, Swift wrote Rodrigo a letter and sent her one of her rings as a gift.

"I don't want to divulge too much because it's really sweet and personal, but she talks a lot about how, I think, you make your own luck in the world," the Bizaardvark alum told Billboard in its May 2021 cover story. "I don't know, she put it so eloquently, and when I say it now ... it's not as cool.”

Rodrigo later gushed about Swift after meeting her at the 2021 BRIT Awards in May. "It's so nice to be welcomed into the music industry and so great to be supportive of other women," she told Variety in August 2021.

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Camila Cabello

Swift has been a good friend to the former Fifth Harmony member over the years, throwing her an 18th birthday party and later inviting her to serve as an opening act on the Reputation tour.

In August 2021, Cabello revealed that she thought of Swift as her "fabulous godmother" after her guidance helped her find her way professionally.

"I started out and I was a teenager when I met her, like 18 or something, and she always gave me great advice," the "Havana" singer told Entertainment Tonight at the time. "She was always really supportive of me and really nurturing and sweet. So in the industry, I would say her."

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Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds

Swift started hanging out with the Gossip Girl alum and the Deadpool star in 2015. She included the couple’s daughter James’ voice in her 2017 song “Gorgeous” and revealed their third child Betty’s name in a 2020 track. The following year, Lively directed the music video for Swift's reimagined version of "I Bet You Think About Me."

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Cara Delevingne

Swift and the actress struck up a friendship after meeting at the 2013 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Delevingne later joined the pop star on her 1989 tour and at the 2015 MTV VMAs.

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Gigi Hadid

The model has been one of Swift’s closest friends for years, having appeared in her videos and attended her 4th of July parties in Rhode Island. After Hadid gave birth to her and Zayn Malik’s daughter in 2020, she showed off a pink blanket that “auntie @taylorswift made.”

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Emma Stone

“My friends are amazing and I’m so thankful to have them, [but] the ones that are like sisters to me are Selena Gomez and Emma Stone,” Swift told PopSugar in August 2011. “They can predict my thoughts; I’ve known them for so long it’s really cool to have friends that are that close.”

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Lena Dunham

The ladies met via Twitter in 2013 and have been good friends ever since. Swift celebrated the Girls alum's Saturday Night Live hosting debut during an afterparty in 2014, and Dunham was photographed visiting Swift's NYC apartment a month later. The Grammy winner is also close with Dunham’s ex Jack Antonoff, who produced songs on her albums 1989 and Folklore.

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Lily Aldridge

Swift and the brunette model walked hand in hand during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2013. "[It was] a little love fest," Aldridge later told Us. "[Taylor] is one of my best friends, so we had so much fun together."

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Kelly Osbourne

Baking buds! The friends had fun during the holiday season in 2013. "#GirlsNight baking with @taylorswift," Osbourne wrote via Instagram. "You guys have no idea how good Taylor is at cooking! #shocked."

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Karlie Kloss

The “Enchanted” singer and Kloss enjoyed an all-girls California road trip in 2014 and have been photographed several times in NYC. “I think she’s the coolest girl,” the model told Us at the 2013 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. “She’s a great role model, and I love her music.” However, Swift and Kloss reportedly had a falling out in 2019 after the musician called out the entrepreneur’s friend Scooter Braun for purchasing her masters. Fans later speculated that the Grammy winner’s Evermore song “It’s Time to Go” — which included the lyric “When the words of a sister come back in whispers / That prove she was not in fact what she seemed” — was about Kloss.

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Ed Sheeran

Romance rumors began to swirl as the singers became fast friends while collaborating. “Literally, I went in there and we passed the guitar back and forth and played songs to each other,” he told TVNZ of their platonic relationship in 2013. The British crooner went on to join Swift on stage during her Red tour in 2014 before appearing on her 2017 song “End Game.”

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Ellie Goulding

The British singer joined Swift on stage during her Red tour in London in 2014. That same night, the "Love Story" entertainer posted a polaroid of the duo backstage. "See you next time! PS: short hair, don't care. (!!!)," she tweeted.

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Demi Lovato

The former X Factor judge has been friends with Swift just as long as Gomez. In 2013, the trio had fun as they FaceTimed each other. "Just a Saturday night. Taylor's tea, Demi's laugh. Honestly, can't complain," Gomez tweeted. Swift and Lovato grew apart as the years went by, however, particularly after the "Betty" songstress' drama with her onetime pal's manager, Braun.

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Selena Gomez

The longtime best friends attended the MTV Video Music Awards together in 2013 but have had their rough patches. As Us exclusively reported, Swift cut off the "Come & Get It" singer in 2014 due to the latter's on-again, off-again relationship with Justin Bieber. They were back on good terms soon after though, performing together on Swift's 1989 and Reputation tours.

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Sarah Hyland, Jaime King and Hailee Steinfeld

Dancing the night away! Swift was joined by the trio during a Golden Globe Awards afterparty in 2014. "Everyone was really into it," an eyewitness told Us of the ladies. "Taylor was basically dancing as if she was at a heavy metal concert and loving it."

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Lorde

The "Team" singer revealed in Rolling Stone's January 2014 issue that the pair became fast friends after Swift sent her roses when "Royals" hit No. 1. "I was floored," she said. Since then, the ladies have frolicked on an L.A. beach and talked about being texting buddies.

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Dianna Agron

Swift and the Glee actress have been photographed several times together since 2012. The duo caught a showing of The Hunger Games that March and played dress-up for Shirley MacLaine's 78th birthday the following month. "We dressed up full-time fancy," Swift captioned a snapshot on Instagram.

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Jessica Szohr

The Gossip Girl alum was featured in Swift's music video "22" in 2013. "It was great," Szohr told Us of filming. "Taylor wrote a song and all of her girlfriends … we've all been through breakups and stuff together. So, she asked a few of us to come and have a fun day at the beach."