Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn broke up after six years together.
The news was confirmed by CNN, which cited a source as saying, "Taylor and Joe broke up a few weeks ago. They simply grew apart and plan to remain friends."
Swift, 33, and Alwyn, 32, were first linked romantically in 2016. They have managed to keep their relationship mostly private, with Alwyn explaining why last year in an interview with Elle UK.
"It's not really [because I] want to be guarded and private, it's more a response to something else," he said. "We live in a culture that is so increasingly intrusive … the more you give — and frankly, even if you don't give it — something will be taken."
Alwyn also commented on the constant media attention surrounding their relationship in an interview with The Times.
"I just don't pay attention to what I don't want to pay attention to. I turn everything else down on a dial. I don't have any interest in tabloids. I know what I want to do, and that's this, and that's what I am doing."
Swift previously revealed on Instagram that the song "Lavender Haze" from her 2022 album "Midnights," was about Alwyn, saying that "when you're in the ‘lavender haze,' you'll do anything to stay there and not let people bring you down off of that cloud."
"Like my relationship for six years, we've had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff and we just ignore it. This song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff," she added.
From the same album, Alwyn earned writing credit for the song "Sweet Nothing." He also contributed to Swift's albums "Folklore" and "Evermore" under the pseudonym William Bowery. He later revealed his true identity. Alwyn now takes credit for co-writing songs "Betty" and "Exile" for Swift's "Folklore" album as well as "Champagne Problems," "Coney Island," and the title track on the album "Evermore."