After Taylor Swift announced her 11th album The Tortured Poets Department at the 2024 Grammys, fans started speculating that the title was a nod to her ex Joe Alwyn.
The conversation with friends on 2024 Grammys night is that the title of Taylor Swift‘s new album has a Joe Alwyn Easter egg.
Shortly after the “Anti-Hero” singer announced the April 19 release date of her 11th studio album at the Feb. 4 ceremony, Swifties started speculating that its title, The Tortured Poets Department, was a nod to her ex. (See every star on the Grammys red carpet here.)
“I knew that taylor swift’s new album name sounded a little too familiar,” one fan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, alongside a screenshot pointing out that Joe was in a WhatsApp group chat called “The Tortured Man Club.”
Meanwhile, a second Swiftie quipped, “tortured man club group chat lighting up i fear.”
A third fan remarked of Taylor, “oh she’s wild for this LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.”
Joe first revealed the chat name in 2022, joking that he “started the group” with Normal People‘s Paul Mescal and Fleabag‘s Andrew Scott as a tongue-in-cheek nod to the characters they play onscreen.
“It’s the Tortured Man Club, I think,” the Conversations With Friends star shared in a joint Variety interview with Paul. “We were both in the Sally Rooney universe and crossed over with Lenny Abrahamson. We were so lucky to have that experience.”
Joe added at the time that the chat consisted of Andrew “messaging himself good mornings.”
“It hasn’t had that much use recently,” the 32-year-old said, with Paul jokingly noting that the three were “less tortured now.”
Christopher Polk/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
Taylor, 34, dated Joe for six years before news of their breakup surfaced in April. During their relationship, the music superstar collaborated with the actor several time, including on her 2020 album folklore, where Joe was credited under the pseudonym of William Bowery.
In fact, that collab led to Joe winning his first-ever Grammy. (See the complete list of winners at the 2024 Grammys here.)
“It wasn’t like, ‘It’s 5 o’clock, it’s time to try and write a song together,'” he told The Guardian in 2022. “It came about from messing around on a piano, and singing badly, then being overheard, and being, like, ‘Let’s see what happens if we get to the end of it together.'”
Joe continued, “I mean, fun is such a stupid word, but it was a lot of fun. And it was never a work thing, or a ‘Let’s try and do this because we’re going to put this out’ thing. It was just like baking sourdough in lockdown.”
To see Taylor—as well as more stars—at this year’s Grammys, keep reading.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Taylor Swift
in custom Schiaparelli.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Céline Dion
Matt Winkelmeyer / Staff / GETTY IMAGES
Miley Cyrus
in Maison Margiela.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Kacey Musgraves
Stewart Cook/CBS
Lizzo
David Fisher/Shutterstock
Ice Spice
in custom Baby Phat.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Olivia Rodrigo
in Versace.
Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Dua Lipa
in custom Courreges and Tiffany & Co. jewelry.
David Fisher/Shutterstock
Janelle Monae
in custom Armani Privé.
Photo: Stewart Cook/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SZA
David Fisher/Shutterstock
Halle Bailey
in Gucci.
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
Madison Beer
Kayla Oaddams/WireImage
Christina Aguilera
in Fashion East.
David Fisher/Shutterstock
Doja Cat
in Dilara Findikoglu.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Lana Del Rey
Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Chlöe Bailey
in Gaurav Gupta.
Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Lenny Kravitz
in vintage Dior.
Photo by Kayla Oaddams/WireImage
Maluma
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Beyoncé
in Louis Vuitton.
Kayla Oaddams/WireImage
Sofia Richie
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
John Legend
Kevin Mazur / Contributor / GETTY IMAGES
Kelsea Ballerini
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Ellie Goulding
in Zuhair Murad.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Oprah Winfrey
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Kelly Clarkson & Remington
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Victoria Monet
in custom Atelier Versace.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Chrissy Teigen
in Alexandre Vauthier.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Paris Hilton
in Reem Acra.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Billie Eilish
in Chrome Hearts.
Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Coco Jones
in Celia Kritharioti.
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