Phoebe Bridgers & Taylor Swift's Friendship Timeline Goes Surprisingly Deep
Their mutual admiration is nothing new.
Most Taylor Swift fans are already very well-versed in her highly publicized relationships — whether it be with her husband Travis Kelce, the exes and enemies she tends to write about, or her close-knit inner circle of fellow artists, many of whom have been dubbed Taydaughters. But one of her closest connections actually seems to be a bond that isn’t flaunted in the limelight very often. Swift has only made a few rare comments about Phoebe Bridgers throughout the years, but they always underlie a very deep friendship that is carefully protected from outside forces.
The relationship between Swift and Bridgers seems to have been birthed from a deluge of fan comparisons, after both singer-songwriters released starkly confessional albums a couple months into the pandemic in the summer of 2020. As the world started to open up again in the years that followed, Swift connected with Bridgers personally, leading to an iconic duet, touring together, and even some theories about lyrical inspiration.
Though Swift and Bridgers’ bond isn’t as flashy as a lot of Swift’s other important relationships, the timeline of their connection tells an intimate story of two artists who truly see one another.
January 2021: Phoebe Confirms She’s A Swiftie
In a Nylon profile published at the start of 2021, Bridgers confirmed that she had seen all the memes comparing her 2020 album Punisher to Swift’s folklore, which was released just one month later. At this point, Bridgers had not yet met Swift, but admitted that she can see the parallels in their work and has been a longtime fan.
“I think it's a totally fair and cool comparison,” Bridgers said. “It used to be a shock to people that I liked Taylor Swift. I think she is the perfect example of the way that privilege is both really lucky, but also you have to be naturally talented... and you have to be a great writer, and I've always thought she was.”
Early 2021: Taylor Texts Phoebe From Aaron Dessner’s Phone
It’s unclear the exact date when Swift and Bridgers first interacted, but it sounds like it happened pretty shortly after Bridgers’ Nylon interview. In a 2022 Billboard interview, Bridgers revealed that Swift reached out to her during her Red (Taylor’s Version) re-recording process, which would have been sometime in early 2021. It was their shared collaborator, The National’s Aaron Dessner, who played matchmaker.
“I got this random text from Aaron Dessner that was really weirdly worded for him. And I was like, ‘What the f*ck is this?’ And as I was reading it, I [realized], ‘Oh, my God, it’s from Taylor Swift,’” Bridgers recalled. “We started texting about all kinds of stuff. It was just a total high. It felt like when you meet someone at a party and you’re in the corner all night being like, ‘Me too!’ I’m excited for when we hang out for the first time. We’ve only been very [COVID-19], online friends.”
Swift has also shared her side of this exchange, naming Bridgers “one of my favorite artists in the world” while recounting this text message in a 2021 interview.
“I try not to cold-call people. It can go very bad. But I do send a very long text that I’ve crafted over many days,” Swift said. “With Phoebe, I reached out and I sent her this song called ‘Nothing New’ ... I sent it to Phoebe and said, ‘It would mean the world to me if you would do this as a duet.’ ‘Cause I really wanted another female artist who I loved to sing it with me because I think it has a very female artist perspective that we go through that experience. And her response was, ‘I’ve been waiting for this text my entire life’. It was like, ‘Yes!’”
November 2021: Taylor & Phoebe Release “Nothing New”
In the fall, Swift and Bridgers released their first collaboration, a somber reflection on the fleeting nature of fame and fandom called “Nothing New,” featured on Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) re-release as a vault track.
December 2022: Phoebe’s Relationships Start To Intersect With Taylor’s
A lot of very interesting wrinkles (which would become much more significant about a year and a half later) developed in late 2022. While Swift and Bridgers remained vocal fans of one another — with Swift even revealing that she played Bridgers’ music while filming her All Too Well short film — their romantic lives began to collide in unexpected ways.
That November, Bridgers got engaged to her boyfriend Paul Mescal, and right after that, it was revealed that Mescal had formed a group chat with Swift’s boyfriend Joe Alwyn called “The Tortured Man Club.” At that same time, Bridgers surprised fans by kissing The 1975 frontman Matty Healy in an Instagram photo, which Healy captioned, “Gay Poets Society.” This picture also featured Bridgers’ eventual boyfriend Bo Burnham presiding over the kiss.
All of these events will become very important to Swift and Bridgers’ connection in 2024, so remember these specific terms.
March 2023: Phoebe Honors Taylor At The iHeartRadio Music Awards
In early 2023, Bridgers gushed about Swift’s influence and impact while presenting her with the Innovator Awards at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.
“I was listening to country radio one day with my mom and Taylor came on. I heard a girl not much older than me singing a song she had written about her own life and the song was really good. As I grew up, so did Taylor, and so did her songs,” Bridgers said. “Taylor has always told the truth. She has always written songs about exactly where she is. I’m grateful to have grown up in a world with Taylor Swift in it. Or ‘The World (Taylor’s Version).’”
May 2023: Phoebe Joins Taylor On The Eras Tour
Bridgers was one of the various artists Swift selected to open for her on the massive Eras Tour, but Bridgers wasn’t just an opener. During Bridgers’ first night on the tour in May, Swift brought the singer on stage with her to perform their duet “Nothing New” for the crowd. When Bridgers’ run was over at the end of May, Swift posted that she was going to miss their “dressing room heart to hearts” as the tour continued without her.
November 2023: A Dinner Catch-Up
During a short break in her Eras Tour, Swift made time to catch up with Bridgers at a dinner in Greenwich Village. The timing of this meet-up is notable, as Swift had reportedly ended a short but significant fling with Matty Healy that was at its peak while Bridgers was opening for her on tour. Because Bridgers and Healy are longtime friends and collaborators, it’s likely Bridgers became someone Swift could confide about what happened between herself and Healy.
February 2024: Grammys Juggernauts
Bridgers and Swift had a lot to celebrate when they next reconnected publicly, as two of the biggest winners at the 2024 Grammys. Swift took several award-winning pics with Bridgers and her boygenius bandmates Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker throughout the night. This was also the night when Swift announced her upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department, the title of which seemed to reference Bridgers’ relationships back in 2022.
April 2024: Taylor’s Album Sparks Some Phoebe Theories
When Tortured Poets dropped, Swifties immediately agreed that the dark songs about a romantic obsession followed by a quick and cold breakup must be inspired by Healy. However, a theory did emerge that the title track may actually be about Bridgers, partially because it shouts out her bandmate Lucy Dacus.
Whether that’s true or not, Bridgers seems to be at least in the world of The Tortured Poets Department, with her ex Mescal being part of Alwyn’s “Tortured Man Club,” and her bond with Healy previously dubbed the “Gay Poets Society.” Bridgers hasn’t made any revealing comments about Swift’s album, so fans remain in the dark about just how much she’s part of its tapestry.
August 2025: Taylor Reveals She Called Phoebe After Regaining Her Masters
Things were silent for over a year after Tortured Poets on the Swift and Bridgers front, but when Swift appeared on the New Heights podcast in 2025, she more than confirmed how close she and Bridgers remain. After regaining the ownership of her masters that summer, Swift revealed that Bridgers was one of the first people she called to tell her the emotional news through tears.
August 2026: Taylor Praises Phoebe’s Album
In the half a decade since Bridgers and Swift first connected, Bridgers had not put out a new album until 2026. And immediately after her record Lost Weekend was released, Swift heaped praise on it in a rare Instagram Story.
“It's her birthday but she gave us a gift - Haven't been able to stop listening,” Swift wrote. “This album is an absolute triumph in every way. To write about grief with such vulnerability and detail, and to trust the listener with this much honesty. Happy Bday @phoebebridgers I love you!!”
