Why Did Taylor Swift & Taylor Lautner Break Up? How It Inspired ‘Back To December’
With the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Swifties are revisiting the singer’s past relationships. It’s been more than a decade since they made headlines, but why did Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner break up?
Swift and Lautner met on the set of Valentine’s Day in 2009 where they played a fictional couple, but things started to bloom outside the confines of the big screen. She addressed the dating rumors in a in a Saturday Night Live monologue. “If you’re wondering if I might be dating the werewolf from Twilight,” she sang before mouthing”Hi Taylor!” to the camera. “I’m not gonna comment on that In my monologue.” Months later, Lautner also commented on his relationship in his own SNL monologue, joking about Swift’s VMAs encounter with Kanye West. “What I really wanted to do was this,” Lautner said before fighting a cardboard cut-out of the DONDA rapper. The two split in December 2009 just a couple of months after being official.
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So what happened to the Taylors and why did Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner break up?
Why did Taylor Swift & Taylor Lautner break up?
Why did Taylor Swift & Taylor Lautner break up? According to a source to Us Weekly at the time, “He liked her more than she liked him. He went everywhere he could to see her, but she didn’t travel much to see him. They decided they were better as friends.” Another source told People, “It was never a big deal to begin with. The media made way more out of it than it is. They went out on a few dates and realized this was just not going anywhere.”
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“They became good friends and then went out a few times, but he lives in L.A. and she lives in Nashville and their busy schedules kept it from becoming more than it was,” a source close to Lautner added.
The Twilight actor is notoriously known for being the subject for Speak Now’s “Back to December.” There’s direct references to their relationship and descriptors like his “tan skin” and his “sweet smile.” She sings, “And how you held me in your arms that September night / The first time you ever saw me cry”
“It’s almost word-for-word. It is a song and a conversation that needed to happen because I don’t want to hurt people. If you unintentionally do so, you’ve got to make that better,” Swift told USA Today at the time of the track. “I feel so comfortable singing about these details and these relationships and listing times, dates, details, names. But when it comes to an interview and they say, ‘Are you dating this person?’ or ‘Did you date this person?’ or ‘What’s your current relationship status?’ I suddenly feel very shy.”
On a Facebook live with Scream Queens co-star Lea Michele, she asked the actor, “Didn’t she write a song about you?” “That’s what she does,” he replied. “She writes songs.”
She subsequently asked, “I think it’s something about a sweater and a hat, right? … It’s like, your hat in December!” Lautner confirmed, “It’s called ‘Back to December.’”
Though Swift and Lautner seem to still be amicable. Swift called Lautner, “one of my best friends.” She told Glamour, “He’s wonderful, and we’ll always be close. I’m so thankful for that.”
Years later, Lautner broke his silence about how he feels about the new re-release of Speak Now (Taylor’s version) “I think it’s a great album. Yeah, I feel safe,” he told Today. “Praying for John.” Referring to John Mayer who “Dear John” is allegedly about.
On his wife’s podcast (her name is also Taylor but goes by Tay to avoid confusion), Lautner recalled the viral VMAs moment of handing his girlfriend-at-the-time the award and Kanye upstaging her. “I can barely hear it. I can’t see them. I’m just assuming that this whole thing was a practice and rehearse skit,” he said on The Squeeze. “Because why else would Kanye West be jumping up on the stage interrupting Taylor Swift? Just didn’t make sense.”
He continued, “If you look back at it, I’m actually caught, like, laughing and like giggling out. I’m like, Oh, I can’t hear them, but this is probably really funny right now. He jumped off; she finished. The second she turned back around and I saw her face for the first time. I was like, Oh…that wasn’t good.” His wife also said that Speak Now was one of the best albums of all time.
Weeks before the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Swift warned her fans about behavior when the record is released. “I was hoping to ask you, that as we lead up to this album coming out, I would love for that kindness and that gentleness to extend onto our internet activities,” Swift said, per fan-recorded videos from the show. “So what I’m trying to say is, I’m putting this album out because I want to own my music and I believe that any artist who has the desire to own their music should be able to. That’s why I’m putting out this album.”
She continued, “I’m 33 years old, I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19 except the songs I wrote and the memories we made together. So what I’m trying to tell you is that I am not putting this album out so you should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I wrote a song about 14 million years ago when I was 19.”
Lautner seems to steer clear of all of this due to his joyful nature, but Swifties are ready to think about John Mayer and the damage he’s done to their favorite singer.
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