In advance of Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, online stans did what they arguably do best: theorize. One Swiftie tale about TTPD, fueled in part by Swift’s “Stage of Heartbreak” playlists for Apple Music, speculated that her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn had cheated on her. Mashable’s Elena Cavender summarized: Alwyn became “evil” to Swift’s “Good Guy”, a common thread in her albums.
For months, Fans dissected Swift’s actions in videos that garnered thousands of views. They spread an unconfirmed rumor that Alwyn had cheated with him Conversations with friends Co-star Alison Oliver based on…Sex scenes in the show (This video has almost a million views). The TikTok search “Joe Alwyn Fraud Theory” leads to a flood of videos.
The wildest lyrics to Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department”, from “Grand Theft Auto” to Charlie Puth
The rumor that Alwyn cheated with me Conversations with friends Co-star Alison Oliver is not only unfounded, but has also been shown to be irrelevant TTPD. The album is actually about Swift’s breakup with Alwyn (see above). It still has its location), but it’s probably more about that 1975 frontman Matty Healywith whom Swift reportedly had a brief affair following their breakup.
There is occasional mention of cheating on the album (“My husband is cheating, I want to kill him” in “Fortnight”, “They said I was a cheater, I guess that must be true” and “All my girls got their top and …”) her crimes / And your cheating husband disappeared” in “Florida!!!”) – but it is not a central theme. Nevertheless, the excitement surrounding Alwyn and Oliver reached such a peak Some Swifties continued to harass Oliver on Instagram after the album came out. Some Swift fans claim Alwyn cheated.
The “Fraud Scandal” is ubiquitous in celebrity culture and social media is fueling the fire. Out of The Try Guys To scandal With these Swift-Alwyn rumors, online fans are getting angry at the thought of such a betrayal. While this is due to our societal feelings about cheating, it is also due to the nature of cheating parasocial relationships.
This makes sense on several levels: Cheating is a transgression that usually involves a variety of lies. Our The culture is dominated by monogamy, and infidelity is considered one of the worst things you can do in a relationship. Even with Nonmongamy Cheating is on the rise (and you can still cheat even if the relationship isn’t monogamous) and is viewed as abhorrent by society at large. And if you think your favorite celebrity’s partner cheated on him? It is the ultimate crime.
Did Joe Alwyn cheat on Taylor Swift?
As Mashable’s Cavender and Chase DiBenedetto pointed out along the way Swifts midnight epochThe singer is known for her conspiratorial fans and her album Easter Eggs. Swift has “taught her fans that there is always a hidden meaning in everything she does, and that means they are always theorizing,” she said Georgia Carrolla PhD in sociology who has studied Swift’s fandom.
When Swift announced TTPDIt was clear to fans that it would be a breakup album, Carroll continued, so theorizing about revelations was the obvious next step. While Swift didn’t explicitly encourage speculation about why her and Alwyn’s relationship ended, she did allow narratives to emerge based on clues she left behind — like song titles, lyric snippets, and the playlist detailing the stages of grief.
“More broadly, fans theorize because they – being a fan by nature – spend a lot of time thinking and talking about things they like, and at some point those discussions will result in theories,” Carroll said. “This is true whether it’s music, a television show, or even a sports team.”
Breakable after dark
This is all spreading on social media. Instead of limiting yourself to a few other fans you know in your community, Swifties have a widespread community on X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and Reddit.
“There is the element of group agreement that strengthens the willingness to believe in a theory,” Carroll said, and even if they know their theories are probably not true, they can enjoy “blowing” or being “As a matter of fact.”
Carroll continued: “Social media also has the added element of encouraging attention-seeking behavior, so people may be intentionally exaggerating in the hope of engagement, and this furthers the snowball effect by creating a broader buzz.”
The parasocial appeal of cheating scandals
I don’t have to tell you that cheating is wrong. It can even be viewed as a form of emotional abuse If It is said that this is done with the intention of causing harm to the partner National Domestic Violence Hotline And Love is respect. An example would be if someone cheats on their partner and then blames them for it; that is a form of emotional abuse.
However, people can cheat on their partners without causing abuse. It may be an indication of one unhealthy relationship, because cheating breaks trust. (Love is Respect has one Relationship spectrum with behaviors of healthy vs. unhealthy vs. abusive relationships).
Infidelity isn’t a crime under the law, but for Stans it’s evil – it’s a reason to harass someone. In advance of TTPD, Swifties “flooded” Alwyn with hateAnd expanded the hatred towards Oliverthe alleged “other woman.”
How to Track Your Partner’s Location Like Taylor Swift in ‘Black Dog’
“Cheating is obviously an act of betrayal that becomes the ultimate sin for a fan who supports someone and is almost taken as a personal attack,” Carroll said. A lot of fandom boils down to supporting your favorites, and so putting time and effort into supporting them develops a defensiveness against mistreatment, she continued—even if the mistreatment is just perceived.
“It becomes a ‘how dare they?’ moment even though they don’t really know the reality of the situation,” she continued. Fans think they know Swift – something she has promoted over the years – and therefore feel betrayed on her behalf.
Here is the parasocial element come in. Swifties don’t know the singer and they don’t know what really happened in her past relationship (by TTPD, it sounds like a sad breakup). So they make up what they think might be true, and social media algorithms are the accelerator. The most egregious possibility rises to the top.
Swift has songs that suggest she’s cheated herself, with titles like “illicit affairs” (from folklore) and “High Infidelity” (by midnight), among other things from their discography. “Guilty as sin?” TTPD There is speculation that it is about emotional infidelity. Be clear, have fans speculated about it That too, but she doesn’t receive the same vitriol that fans give to her exes. But of course she wouldn’t do that, because it’s not about the act itself: it’s about the act against her favorite star. And if that isn’t the ultimate crime, what is?