Not since the “Bad Blood” music video in 2015 has the role of Taylor Swift’s Famous Friend been so important. In the past year, Swift has ended two relationships (with longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn and short-time controversial rebound fling Matty Healy), started up a new, highly publicized one with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and brought the Squad along for the ride. Whether it’s cheering Swift on in the VIP tent at the Eras Tour, chugging beers in a VIP suite at the Super Bowl, or acting as Swift’s VIP date at the Golden Globes or the Grammys, it has truly never been a better time to be Swift’s friend.
The party shows no signs of stopping: Swift is about to launch her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, which means she will likely embark on many more pap strolls with everyone from Blake Lively to Ice Spice to Laura Dern at impossible-to-get-into New York restaurants in the next few weeks.
Not everyone who attended Swift’s many epic July Fourth parties in the mid-2010s has joined this new iteration of the clique, however. There are some new faces in the mix as well, and they’re not even all Victoria’s Secret models. Who’s in and who’s out? Behold, a cheat sheet.
The Inner Circle
Swift has made it abundantly clear in the last 12 months who has a reserved seat on her private jet. Blake Lively joined her at several of Kelce’s games this fall and got the coveted Super Bowl invite. (Ryan Reynolds has benefited from this association too.) Gigi Hadid was all over the Eras Tour VIP tent and had a starring role at Swift’s New York birthday party in December. Swift also famously wore a red cashmere sweater from Hadid’s Guest in Residence line to the AFC Championship game. (Bradley Cooper has yet to be initiated into the Squad.) And at least one of the Haim girls is always around.
Also at the top of the list: Zoë Kravitz, who was part of Swift’s “quarantine pod” during the pandemic in London when Swift was still dating Alwyn and who hung in during the short-lived, messy Healy era. Now, she’s a regular on Swift’s paparazzi-friendly girls’ nights in the city (sometimes Channing Tatum gets an invite too).
Then of course there’s Jack Antonoff, whose loyalty to Swift is such that he recently hung up on a reporter for asking an innocuous question about her forthcoming album. Swift attended his and Margaret Qualley’s wedding in New Jersey in August, where she literally stopped traffic.
The bestie who has shot up the furthest in the Squad’s ranks, however, is Miles Teller’s wife, Keleigh Teller (it’s pronounced Kelly). Ms. Teller, who starred in Swift’s music video for “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” in 2021 (directed by Lively, natch), has quickly become one of Swift’s most visible girlfriends. She posted behind-the-scenes TikToks from multiple Chiefs games this fall and served as Swift’s date to the Golden Globes (where the pair were photographed gossiping with another longtime Squad member, Selena Gomez). She also gifted Swift a ginormous opal ring for her birthday and publicly called out DeuxMoi when the gossip account claimed it was from Kelce. Congratulations to her.
New Acquaintances
Though she has plenty of longtime friends to keep her occupied, Swift has not stopped collecting new famous faces. Just as she was getting backlash for dating Healy last summer, Swift became publicly friendly with Ice Spice, whom Healy had mocked on a podcast. The rapper even sat with Swift at the Super Bowl, alongside Lively and Lana Del Rey (who, you’ll recall, Swift dragged up onstage at the Grammys to watch her accept the award for Album of the Year).
Swift also debuted a close personal friendship with Sophie Turner last year, when the British actress was in the middle of an acrimonious custody battle with her estranged husband (and Swift’s ex-boyfriend) Joe Jonas. (According to the tabloids, Swift even loaned Turner one of her “investment properties” in New York for the duration of her time in court.)
Other new friends include Laura Dern and Greta Gerwig, who were photographed having dinner with Swift and Kravitz in New York this fall (Dern is also friends with Hadid now, via Cooper). And she has added a few choice men into the mix: Antoni Porowski, Hugh Jackman, and Jerrod Carmichael were also spotted with Swift at various Chiefs games during the regular season.
The person who seems to appreciate Swift’s new friendship the most, though, is fellow Chiefs WAG Brittany Mahomes. The wife of Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes posted several photos of her “twinning” with Swift at games during the playoffs this winter. Sadly, they have not been seen together since the Super Bowl.
The Excommunicated
Swift’s most famous ex-friend is undoubtedly Karlie Kloss. But there are a few other gals who were prominently featured in Swift’s Squad during the “Bad Blood” days who are now missing in action. Zendaya, Martha Hunt, Lorde, Serayah, and Jessica Alba have all fallen by the wayside. And Jaime King, who made Swift a godmother to one of her children in 2015, has not shown up to any Eras Tour dates, domestic or international, so far.
The most obvious recent dismissal from the Squad, however, is Olivia Rodrigo. Swift became fast friends with the teen pop star during her rise in 2021, but their relationship apparently cooled during the Grammys last year over songwriting credits on Rodrigo’s debut album. Now, Swift has buddied up to Rodrigo’s nemesis, Sabrina Carpenter. (Carpenter opened for Swift on several dates of the last international leg of the Eras Tour.)
But perhaps not all is lost: Swift recently confirmed that she had patched things up with the woman who inspired “Bad Blood” in the first place. Katy Perry attended one of Swift’s shows in Australia earlier this year and even took a smiling selfie with her. The new iteration of the Squad, it seems, is open to everyone. Who knows who will show up in Swift’s Tortured Poets Department music videos?
