These days, it’s almost hard to remember a time before Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were the world’s most famous couple.
But throughout her two decade career, Taylor was involved in several high-profile relationships, several of which are now being re-examined — in an unflattering light.
Are the criticisms legitimate, or is this a case of Swift’s haters throwing everything at the wall in the hope that something might stick?
We’ll let you be the judge.
Social media users encourage Charli XCX to call out Taylor Swift’s dating history
As you’re probably aware, Taylor released her twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, last week.
The album received more of a mixed response than Taylor is accustomed to, with some critics and social media users calling out what seem to be needlessly combative lyrics.
Specifically, they’ve been critical of the song “Actually Romantic,” in which Taylor seems to target fellow pop star Charli XCX.
In the days since the song went public, Charli fans have been urging their fav to retaliate — and many have encouraged her to pursue one particular line of attack.
Taylor’s dating history comes under scrutiny
When she was in her early twenties, Taylor dated a succession of younger male partners (yes, we’re intentionally sidestepping the issue of whether they should be referred to as boys or men).
She dated actor Taylor Lautner when she was 20 and he was 17. She dated Harry Styles when she was 23 and he was 18 (and, as one X user notes, still in high school).
And, perhaps most problematically of all, Taylor pursued a relationship with Conor Kennedy — the son of United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — when she was 22 and he was 17.
For some critics, it’s not just the age gap that’s at issue there, but the circumstances surrounding the relationship.
“She was 23 dating a 17 year old she used to pick up from HS. She bought a multi-million [dollar] house to stay next to his family when they were grieving his mother’s suicide,” wrote one user.
“Crashed a family wedding uninvited & sent a private jet to fly him over to her hometown. They lasted 3 months.”
Taylor and Conor’s relationship did indeed begin just weeks after his mother, Mary Richardson, hung herself at her home in Bedford, New York.
During their brief relationship, Taylor lashed out at jokes that she’d “kidnapped” Conor by sending a private jet to pick him up at home.
“You can’t kidnap a grown man,” she told Rolling Stone at the time (via Us Weekly). “These are serious accusations, now! It’s an interesting way to spin something into a story.”
These days, Taylor is engaged to a man who’s actually a few months older than her (Travis turned 36 just last week).
She discussed the relationship during an interview with Jimmy Fallon that aired Monday night, explaining that she feels unable to perform the Super Bowl halftime show due to Kelce’s career.
“We’re always able to tell [Jay-Z] the truth, which is that like, I am in love with a guy who does that sport on that actual field. Like, that is violent chess. That is gladiators without swords, that is dangerous,” she explained.
“he whole season I am locked in on what that man is doing on the field. Can you imagine if like he’s out there every single week like putting his life on the line, doing this very dangerous, very high pressure, high intensity sport and I’m like, ‘I wonder what my choreo should be.’ […] And this is nothing to do with Travis, he would love for me to do it. I’m just too locked in.”
Many commenters have noted that Taylor seems intent on emphasizing the differences between her current relationship and her past romances — which might be a savvy PR move.