Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner’s Relationship: A Look Back

The singer and actor met on the set of Valentine’s Day and dated for a few months in 2009

PHOTO: MARK DAVIS/PICTUREGROUP

Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner’s short-lived romance is forever memorialized in the singer’s music.

The two first met on the set of the romantic comedy Valentine’s Day in 2009, where they played high school sweethearts, and it didn’t take long for their onscreen romance to turn into a real one.

Following filming, Swift and Lautner — whose relationship was coined “Taylor Squared” by fans — began to spark dating rumors with their various appearances in Los Angeles before eventually stepping out together at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, at which Kanye West infamously interrupted Swift’s speech on stage.

Though they deflected relationship speculation at the time they were dating, Swift and Lautner have spoken about each other in the years following their split.

Swift’s breakup ballad “Back to December” — on her 2010 Speak Now album, which she re-released for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) — was widely assumed to be about her relationship with Lautner.

Most recently, Lautner joined Swift on stage at her Eras Tour as the singer debuted her new music video for “I Can See You,” which stars Joey King, Presley Cash and Lautner.

Here’s a complete timeline of the former couple’s relationship.

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July 2009: Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner meet on the set of Valentine’s Day

In the summer of 2009, Swift and Lautner were photographed filming Valentine’s Day in Los Angeles, including shots of them wearing matching track and field uniforms and sharing a passionate kiss on set.

Sept. 13, 2009: Taylor Lautner presents Taylor Swift with a VMAs award

KEVIN MAZUR/WIREIMAGE

A few months after filming their movie together, the two shared a sweet moment at the 2009 MTV VMAs as Lautner presented Swift with best female video for “You Belong With Me.” Swift and Lautner shared a tight hug onstage when she came up to accept.

However, the moment quickly took a turn as West stormed the stage and interrupted Swift’s speech, stating, “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!”

Oct. 25, 2009: Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner attend a hockey game

ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN/NHLI VIA GETTY

In October 2009, Swift and Lautner continued to fuel romance rumors as they stepped out together on a number of occasions. After they were spotted in Chicago – where the actor attended two of her concerts – the pair reunited in Los Angeles for a hockey game.

Oct. 28, 2009: Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner step out for dinner

JEAN BAPTISTE LACROIX/WIREIMAGE

A few days after attending the hockey game, the duo enjoyed dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, where they were seen flashing big smiles as they made their way to their car.

October 2009: Taylor Swift talks about Taylor Lautner on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

That same month, Swift briefly opened up about Lautner during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show as the host inquired about the costars’ relationship status.

“Is that part of the movie when you all go to some kind of game together?” DeGeneres asked while showing a picture of them at the hockey game. “Is that part of the movie too?”

“I really like hockey a lot and it turns out so does he,” Swift coyly responded before DeGeneres asked if Lautner was a good kisser, causing the singer to erupt into laughter.

Nov. 7, 2009: Taylor Swift mentions Taylor Lautner in her SNL monologue

As Swift hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time, she publicly addressed her relationship with Lautner in a monologue song that poked fun at all the speculation about her love life. “If you’re wondering if I might be dating the werewolf from Twilight,” she jokingly sang, before mouthing “Hi Taylor” to the camera and blowing a kiss — and finishing with “I’m not going to comment on that in my monologue.”

Nov. 16, 2009: Taylor Swift opens up about getting “really close” with Taylor Lautner

Shortly after her SNL monologue, Swift opened up about her relationship with Lautner to InStyle, noting they have “gotten really close” since filming Valentine’s Day. (She also shared a hazard of working with someone with the same name: “It would be confusing on the set with two Taylors in the same scene. They were like, ‘Taylor, on your mark – no, not you, the other one!’ So halfway through the shoot, I said, ‘How about you guys call me Swifty and call him Taylor?'”)

The magazine also reached out to Lautner for comment, to which he replied, “Taylor is hilarious. It was definitely not hard to play her love interest.”

Dec. 3, 2009: Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner grab fro-yo together

FAMEFLYNET/BACKGRID

After re-shooting Valentine’s Day scenes together, the two stepped out for a fro-yo date in early December, with Swift wearing a black dress and Lautner wearing a dark gray t-shirt — similar to the lyrics in Swift’s “Today Was a Fairytale” song, which is rumored to be about the actor.

Dec. 12, 2009: Taylor Lautner mentions Taylor Swift in his SNL monologue

A month after Swift’s “Monologue Song,” Lautner mentioned the singer during his own SNL monologue on Dec. 12, the day before Swift’s birthday. In the skit, he mentioned how he’s gotten “close” with the singer while also detailing how he should have stood up for Swift during that dramatic VMAs moment.

December 2009: Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner break up

Towards the end of December, sources told PEOPLE that Swift and Lautner had broken up. “It was never a big deal to begin with. The media made way more out of it than it is,” a source close to Swift told PEOPLE at the time. “They went out on a few dates and realized this was just not going anywhere.”

“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.

Sources also noted that their split happened shortly after Swift’s 20th birthday party in Nashville, where Lautner flew down to surprise Swift.

March 24, 2010: Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner have a lunch date

Despite splitting up in December, the two were seen having a friendly lunch together at The Farm of Beverly Hills the following March.

Oct. 25, 2010: Taylor Swift releases “Back to December” about Taylor Lautner

In October 2010, Swift released her album Speak Now, which featured a breakup ballad titled “Back to December.” Fans quickly assumed the track was about Lautner as Swift regretfully looked back on a relationship she ended in December.

October 2010: Taylor Swift calls Taylor Lautner one of her best friends

The same month she released Speak Now, Swift did an interview with Glamour in which she addressed the status of their relationship post-breakup, saying, “He’s one of my best friends. He’s wonderful, and we’ll always be close. I’m so thankful for that.”

Aug. 7, 2011: Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner reunite at the Teen Choice Awards

MARK DAVIS/PICTUREGROUP

The following year, Swift and Lautner had a friendly reunion at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards. The two were seen smiling for photographers as they sat next to each other in the audience.

Aug. 8, 2016: Taylor Lautner talks about dating Taylor Swift

While promoting his series Scream Queens, the actor was asked about his 2009 romance with Swift, to which he simply replied, “It was a good time. It was a fun few months there.”

Aug 9, 2016: Taylor Lautner’s Scream Queens costars interrogate him about Taylor Swift’s song written about him

The following day, Swift’s name was brought up again as Lautner did a Facebook Live with his Scream Queen costars Lea Michele and John Stamos.

During the interview, Michele and Stamos questioned Lautner about his former relationship with the singer, with the Glee star asking, “Didn’t she write a song about you?” to which Lautner replied, “That’s what she does. She writes songs.”

As Michele tried to remember the lyrics to the song, Lautner eventually jumped in, saying, “It’s called ‘Back to December.'”

February 2023: Taylor Lautner talks about Taylor Swift’s infamous VMAs moment with Kanye West

On the debut episode of his new podcast The Squeeze, which he hosts alongside his wife, Tay Dome Lautner, the Twilight star revisited the moment when West stormed the stage during Swift’s VMAs acceptance speech.

The actor said he “was unaware that the Kanye thing was not a skit,” saying, “I presented the award to her. I took five steps back and was standing five feet behind her. And, yeah, in the middle of her giving her ‘thank you’ speech, Kanye jumps on the stage.”

He added: “I can barely hear it. I can’t see them, I’m just assuming that this whole thing was a practiced and rehearsed skit because why else would Kanye West be jumping up on the stage, interrupting Taylor Swift?”

The actor said he then laughed about the interaction until his then-girlfriend turned around and he saw her face. “I was like, ‘Oh,” he said. “No, that … wasn’t good.”

May 16, 2023: Taylor Lautner reacts to Taylor Swift announcing Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

While speaking with TODAY.com to promote his and his wife’s podcast “The Squeeze”, the Twilight actor was briefly asked how he’s feeling ahead of Swift’s re-recorded version of Speak Now, which features the track “Back to December” about him.

“I think it’s a great album. Yeah, I feel safe,” he said, before quipping, “Praying for John,” making reference to Swift’s former flame John Mayer, who she notably penned “Dear John” about on the same album.

July 7, 2023: Taylor Lautner attends Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to debut “I Can See You” music video

GETTY

On the same day Swift released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Lautner was spotted at the singer’s Eras Tour in Kansas City alongside his wife Tay Dome. Fans captured a video of Lautner and Dome heading to their seats before their show.

During the show, Lautner joined Swift on stage alongside Joey King and Presley Cash as the singer premiered a new music video for the song “I Can See You,” which starred Lautner, King and Cash.

While on stage, Lautner gave a heartfelt speech to Swift, saying, “I respect you so much. Not just for the singer you are, the songwriter, the performer — but truly for the human you are. You are gracious, humble, kind and I’m honored to know you.”

July 8, 2023: Taylor Swift shares behind-the-scenes photos with Taylor Lautner from “I Can See You” music video

Following the music video’s release, Swift shared a heartfelt post on Instagram, thanking everyone for collaborating with her, including Lautner. “Taytay is INCREDIBLE in this (didn’t have a stunt double!),” she wrote alongside a photo of her, Lautner and King on set.

She also gave a shout-out to Lautner’s wife, Taylor Dome, who was on set during filming. Playfully poking fun at the fact that their names are all Taylor, they recreated the Spider-Man meme together, with Swift writing, “The Tale of 3 Taylors ” on Instagram.

Dome also gushed about the music video online, sharing a photo of her, Swift and Lautner on set while also sharing a cute throwback of her and Swift from when she was younger.

July 19, 2023: Taylor Lautner talks about Taylor Swift on his podcast The Squeeze

During his podcast with his wife, The Squeeze, Lautner opened up at great length about working with Swift on the “I Can See You” music video, noting he immediately said “yes” when she asked him to be part of the project. “Everything she does turns to gold,” he said. “She’s that talented.”

In the video, they also answered fan questions, including how he feels about being one of Swift’s only ex-boyfriends to have a “positive” song written about him. “Horrible. I hate it,” he joked, before adding, “It feels great.”

They also discussed their favorite Taylor Swift songs, including “Exile,” “The 1” and “Midnight Rain,” the latter of which fans have theorized is about Lautner.