Joe Alwyn Breaks Silence on Taylor Swift Breakup: “A Hard Thing to Navigate”

Joe Alwyn has broken his silence on the end of his relationship with Taylor Swift, over a year after their breakup.

The actor sat down with The Sunday Times Style Magazine ahead of the release of his upcoming film, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindness, on June 21. During the conversation, Alwyn spoke candidly about his breakup with the global superstar in April 2023.

While he is the first to address their breakup publicly, Swift’s newest album, The Tortured Poets Department, seemingly addresses it, with songs like “So Long, London” and “The Black Dog.” Not to mention the name of the album itself resembles a WhatsApp group chat Alwyn has with Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal called The Tortured Man Club.

When asked if he had listened to the album, Alwyn didn’t directly answer the question. Instead, he told the publication, “I would hope that anyone and everyone can empathize and understand the difficulties that come with the end of a long, loving, fully committed relationship of over six and a half years. That is a hard thing to navigate. What is unusual and abnormal in this situation is that, one week later, it’s suddenly in the public domain and the outside world is able to weigh in.”

Once the news broke that the two had parted ways, the Conversations With Friends star noted that their “very real” experience was suddenly thrown into the “very unreal space” of tabloids, social media and the press, where it was “dissected, speculated on, pulled out of shape beyond recognition.”

“And the truth is, to that last point, there is always going to be a gap between what is known and what is said,” he explained. “I have made my peace with that.”

Swifties have long speculated that Alwyn was the one who wanted to keep their relationship private, and the actor made it a purpose to state in his interview with the U.K. publication that they decided that together, and he wanted to continue to keep the more private details to himself.

“It was never something to commodify, and I see no reason to change that now,” Alwyn said, adding, “Look, this is also a little over a year ago now, and I feel fortunate to be in a really great place in my life — professionally and personally. I feel really good.”

Elsewhere their conversation, the Harriet actor opened up about his experience working with Lanthimos for the second time on Kinds of Kindness, which also stars Emma Stone, a longtime friend of Swift’s and regular collaborator of the director.

The film’s star-studded cast also includes Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Jesse Plemons and Hunter Schafer, among others. In the project, Alwyn plays a single father, who is trying to get his wife (Stone) back from a cult.

“Even though Yorgos really goes into dark corners in his work, he keeps a light atmosphere on set. It’s the second time I’ve worked with him and with Emily,” he said, referring to Stone by her birth name, which she previously told The Hollywood Reporter she would like to go by professionally. “I love them both, and I love working with them, so it felt comfortable.”

Following Alwyn and Swift’s breakup, the Grammy-winning artist began a very public relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. She made her first appearance at a Chiefs football game in September 2023 and attended 12 other games last season, including the Super Bowl, where the Chiefs won for the second year in a row.