Fans think Taylor Swift and Drake might be dating - here's all the evidence
The INSIDER Summary:
Fans think Taylor Swift and Drake are dating.
They're probably just making music together.
The truth can be a slippery thing.
Let's get this out of the way right now: Taylor Swift and Drake are probably not dating. But according to some people, they are - and if true, it could be huge news in the music business.
Though there's little evidence to support the theory that Drake and Taylor are an item, people online have been conjecturing wildly. Here's what we know.
It all started when Drake talked to Taylor Swift at his birthday party.
At the stroke of midnight, on the evening of October 23, Drake turned 30 years old. He hosted a big birthday party and, as celebrities do, had a bunch of other celebrities and hanger-ons there.
Among those celebrities was Taylor Swift.
"Taylor arrived with some friends and looked to be having fun," an anonymous source told E!. "After dinner there was lots of dancing. At one point Drake and Taylor were seen near the DJ together talking, his arm over her shoulder for a minute like a real friend moment. It looked like they were talking about something deep."
At some point during the evening, "everyone sang happy birthday to Drake," according to E!. Swift was presumably among the singers.
Drake also introduced Swift to his mom, according to TMZ. Swift and Drake posed for a few photos, and that's the extent of their known contact that night.
So, are they dating? Twitter users sure shipped them.
They seem to be working on music together.
On November 2, as the dating rumors were flaring up, Page Six came out with another report that the two were making music together. E! News confirmed the report:
For those surprised by the seemingly unlikely duo, our source reveals "the music they have been working on is different," albeit "very catchy." The insider adds, "They've both been having a great time in the studio."
That means they're spending a lot of time together. Possibly alone. Possibly not. So they could be working on music together, and they could be hooking up. Who's to say?
Drake fanned the flames of speculation.
Drake has an impish, winking relationship with his fans. On "Saturday Night Live," he once sang about how he's more than just a meme. So later in November, he posted a picture of himself and Swift together with the caption "Is that velvet? ��"
Once again, a general freak out occurred. The coy flower emoji seemed especially designed to make people wonder what on earth was happening.
Drake made an Apple Music commercial with Swift's "Bad Blood."
The hip-hop artist released an ad where - in his self-aware persona - he sings along to Swift's "Bad Blood."
It's a reference to a commercial Swift made a few months earlier, where she ran on a treadmill, and fell off it, while singing along to Drake and Future's "Jumpman."
And when Drake posted his ad on Instagram, he snuck in the hashtag "#Draylor." Maybe it's a hashtag for the ad, maybe it's a hashtag for the two as a couple. Clearly, Swift and Drake are friendly enough to make referential meta-jokes about one another.
Taylor Swift dating Drake makes sense on a narrative level.
The Swift-Drake relationship is less about actual evidence that they're dating and more about wish fulfillment and fun speculation. Fans don't believe the couple are dating as much as they want to will their relationship into existence.
But why does it hold so much appeal?
For her part, Swift recently ended a summer fling with Tom Hiddleston. That relationship was a strange fit. Swift is one of the biggest celebrities in the world. Hiddleston - though he is a fine actor, conventionally attractive, and still the best villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - is simply not on her level.
Apart from star power, Hiddleston, 35, always seemed so much older than Swift, 26. For these reasons and more, Hiddleswift always made for a slightly bizarre coupling to outsiders.
Meanwhile, Drake has been in an on-again-off-again relationship with Rihanna for years. It arguably culminated in August when Drake professed his love for her on stage in the VMAs. But right now, they're off again.
A Swift-Drake relationship would distract the public from any image-altering breakups and reestablish both of them as the desirable, über talented A-listers they are.
Of course, this narrative could just be publicity for their new song together. Even if Swift and Drake aren't in love, they're a match made in PR heaven.