Taylor Swift has officially made her return to TikTok, nearly a year after she was last active on the app. On May 18, Natalia Bryant posted a video from her graduation from the University of Southern California, set to the tune of Swift’s “Nothing New.” In the clip, Bryant and her friends lip sync the lyrics: “How can a person know everything at 18 but nothing at 22? And will you still want me when I'm nothing new?” Swift showed her support for the recent graduate, liking the post from her official TikTok account.
Swift has been friends with the Bryant family for years. Back in 2015, Kobe Bryant made a surprise appearance at Swift’s Los Angeles concert on her 1989 tour. Years later, the Los Angeles Laker discussed Swift during a 2019 Jordan Harbinger Show interview. “I think it’s important to listen to people who do great things, you know? So it's not just genre specific but it's like, Taylor's been at the top of the game for a very, very long time. How and why?” he said at the time.
“She’s a sweet kid. I mean, she was a sweetheart to my girls before she even blew up and became Taylor Swift. So that's why I'll always, if she needs anything from me, I'm always there,” Kobe added.
After his tragic death in 2020, Swift has continued to be a friend of the family. In 2021, Natalia opened up about how she thinks of Swift as a role model. “I just love how she’s always, she's very positive but she also empowers young girls and she empowers women, and I just think that’s so important in life. And she’s always been one of my biggest role models,” she said in a video with IMG models.
The whole family considers themselves Swifties. In August 2023, Swift gave Bianka Bryant the “22” hat during her Eras Tour show in LA. (The sweet moment was also featured in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie.) After the show, the Bryants joined Swift backstage where they posed for a photo together. Vanessa Bryant shared the picture on Instagram. “Always love ❤️,” she captioned the post.
