April 8, 2023: After Swift and Alwyn’s six years together, People and Entertainment Tonight report they have broken up. “It was not dramatic,” a source tells ET. “The relationship had just run its course. It’s why [Alwyn] hasn’t been spotted at any shows.”
April 9, 2023: A fan on TikTok shares a video of Swift performing “Champagne Problems” during a previous Eras Tour performance, suggesting Swift was “getting emotional” while singing the lyrics “Sometimes you just don’t know the answer till someone’s on their knees and asks you.”
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April 11, 2023: Swift is spotted in public for the first time post-breakup in New York City’s West Village, just four blocks away from the famous Cornelia Street she sang about in Lover. According to People, Swift went out for Italian food with longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff and his partner, actor Margaret Qualley.
April 13, 2023: This is where the tides start to turn against Alwyn. During a DeuxU podcast episode, DeuxMoi shares a report from an anonymous source that Alwyn initiated their “break” and that Swift thinks he’s behind the leak.
Meanwhile, during a show in Tampa, Swift sends a pointed message to fans before playing “Lover.”
“Some of these songs are about my life; some of these songs are about fictional characters I created,” she tells the crowd. “But my hope in all of this is that, at the end of the day, these songs will be songs that you think are about your own life. And the song that we’re about to play next…it’s just a love song, you know?”
Otherwise, Swift seems to be doing okay. During her time in Tampa, Swift seemingly gives fans a subtle update on how she’s doing. One TikTok user captured Swift giving a thumbs-up to a fan carrying a sign that says, “You OK?”
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April 18, 2023: Fans spiral after Alwyn’s costar Emma Laird shares a photo of the actor on a scooter as part of a March photo dump. There are multiple layers to that controversy (which you can read about here), but this is where cheating rumors begin to pick up steam.
April 19, 2023: And so begins the Great Unfollowing of Joe Alwyn. After Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have dinner with Swift in NYC, fans notice that Reynolds no longer follows Alwyn on Instagram…and neither do the Haim sisters and Swift’s brother, Austin. Keep in mind, Reynolds once wrote a very sentimental tribute to Alwyn in Time.
