Yesterday was the unofficial end of summer—and, reportedly, the official end of Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston's relationship. Swift split with Hiddleston after the couple's three-month romance—one that began just two weeks after Swift and another ex-boyfriend, Calvin Harris, announced their split in June.
The Hiddleswift era was fast and intense: Fourth of July parties! Transatlantic parent meetings! Visits to the Pope in Rome! Conspiracy theories! Here, the full roller coaster, from start to end:
May 3, 2016: Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston meet at the Met Gala that Swift co-hosts. Calvin Harris, Swift's boyfriend at the time, isn't there.
The two dance to Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" (prophetic!) and T.I.'s "Bring 'Em Out." Video of the T.I. dance goes viral:
May 16, 2016: MTV UK interviews Hiddleston about his dance with Swift. In the 53-second segment, Hiddleston compliments Swift four times. "She was very charming [at the Met]," he says. "She is amazing."
June 2, 2016: Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris are reported to have broken up. Harris confirms the news the next day on his Twitter. Swift retweets him.
June 15, 2016: Harris starts erasing Swift from his Instagram and deletes his tweet about the breakup. He tweets, then deletes, "Oh boy it's about to go down," along with three skull emojis. Then it does: photos of Swift and Hiddleston kissing on the rocks in Rhode Island appear on The Sun's cover. Hiddleswift begins:
Swift deletes all Instagrams with Harris.
June 16, 2016: Kim Kardashian's GQ interview comes out. In it, she says Swift lied about not knowing about Kanye West's "Famous" lyric about her and that there is footage of the phone call where Swift learned about it. (Recap: In February, West introduced "Famous," with its "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that bitch famous" line, said Taylor approved it, then Taylor's rep claimed she'd never even heard the song. Taylor threw not-so-veiled shade at Kanye during her Grammys acceptance speech, Kanye said she ain't cool no more, and their feud-turned-friendship went back to being a war.)
"She totally knew that that was coming out," Kardashian says. "She wanted to all of a sudden act like she didn't. I swear, my husband gets so much shit for things [when] he really was doing proper protocol and even called to get it approved. What rapper would call a girl that he was rapping a line about to get approval?"
Swift's team gives GQ this statement:
Taylor does not hold anything against Kim Kardashian as she recognizes the pressure Kim must be under and that she is only repeating what she has been told by Kanye West. However, that does not change the fact that much of what Kim is saying is incorrect. Kanye West and Taylor only spoke once on the phone while she was on vacation with her family in January of 2016 and they have never spoken since. Taylor has never denied that conversation took place. It was on that phone call that Kanye West also asked her to release the song on her Twitter account, which she declined to do. Kanye West never told Taylor he was going to use the term 'that bitch' in referencing her. A song cannot be approved if it was never heard. Kanye West never played the song for Taylor Swift. Taylor heard it for the first time when everyone else did and was humiliated. Kim Kardashian's claim that Taylor and her team were aware of being recorded is not true, and Taylor cannot understand why Kanye West, and now Kim Kardashian, will not just leave her alone.
There's no video proof...yet.
Some people begin to suspect her relationship with Hiddleston was meant to be a media distraction from Kardashian's quote, one that outs Swift as a liar.
June 17, 2016: Hiddleston heads on a private jet to New York with Swift. He's confronted by paparazzi while leaving the gym and dodges their questions.
June 21, 2016: Hiddleston and Swift attend Selena Gomez's concert in Nashville. They hug, dance, and keep their PDA tour going, alongside Swift's brother Austin and best friend Abigail Anderson.
June 23, 2016: Hiddleston meets Swift's parents in Nashville.
June 24, 2016: Harris appears to answer Instagram users' questions about his relationship and breakup with Swift. He says Swift controlled the media narrative of it, and he's "not jealous [of Tom] sir, [but] FREE."
June 25, 2016: Swift appears in naked, wax form in Kanye West's "Famous." The real Swift, meanwhile, is far away from Kimye, in England meeting Hiddleston's parents. They are photographed multiple days together on the Essex beach.
June 27, 2016: Swift and Hiddleston begin their Roman holiday in Italy. They are photographed visiting the Colosseum (and later, making out there.)
June 28, 2016: More paparazzi photos of Hiddleswift's PDA fest in Rome are released. An onlooker photographs Hiddleston kissing Swift's hand at breakfast:
Harris, meanwhile, Snapchats what could be a warning that a song is coming—"Olé," the Hiddleswift breakup track, time/TMZ will reveal.
June 29, 2016: Swift and Hiddleston get their union blessed at the Vatican.
July 1, 2016: The Hiddleswift conspiracy theories start getting mainstream media coverage. E! suspects Swift is just filming a music video, with Hiddleston as the love interest.
July 3–4, 2016: The great Taymerica Fourth of July party happens. Hiddleston attends and wears that infamous "I Love TS" tank. The internet, including SNL's Aidy Bryant, has a blast making fun of him for it:
Hiddleston meets the squad and appears in his first Instagram with Swift. Paparazzi catch them making out in the ocean. There is lots and lots of documented PDA.
Party guest Cara Delevingne later explains she scared the shit out of Hiddleswift one night at the bash. "They got woken up, and they came upstairs and Uzo was over in the corner with a light in her hand, holding a speaker. I was throwing myself on the floor punching things, and they were like 'AHHH!' Like screaming, and they were like, 'Let's go back downstairs, and leave this scene.' [Tom] was peeing himself in the corner."
July 7, 2016: TMZ reports Harris is releasing a song he wrote—"Olé"—about Hiddleswift. Its lyrics suggest Swift cheated on Harris with Hiddleston. ("You've hidden my name in your phone so you can call me to tell me you've been going through hell. Left him alone and you booked in a hotel" and "Low key [a] you won't tell none of your friends about me.") Harris apparently has nothing against Hiddleston. He just thinks the actor is under Swift's spell, a source tells TMZ.
Meanwhile, Hiddleswift heads for Australia from LAX on the 6th, where Hiddleston is filming his new Thor movie. The Australian press goes crazy:
July 8, 2016: "Olé" comes out, and the lyrics are just as TMZ reported. Sources tell several outlets the song was written before Harris and Swift's split, though, and recorded months ago.
July 10, 2016: Hiddleston is ambushed by Australian press while jogging. He struggles answering their questions about Swift:
July 13, 2016: Tabloids report Swift and Harris did actually collaborate musically during their relationship—and that she co-wrote "This Is What You Came For" under a different name. Harris confirms this on Twitter and then makes a direct appeal to Swift: Stop dragging him down. "I figure if you're happy in your new relationship, you should focus on that instead of trying to tear your ex bf down for something to do. ...I know you're off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy ETC but I'm not that guy, sorry. I won't allow it."
Swift also gets a subtle callout by Kim Kardashian on a teaser for Sunday's Keeping Up with the Kardashians. "I did an interview for GQ," Kardashian tells Kris Jenner. "I've had it with people blatantly treating my husband a certain way and making him look a certain way. And I'm gonna say how I feel...He really did wanna do the right thing."
Us Weekly also reports that day that Hiddleston "is planning to propose very soon," per a source. Swift is silent.
July 14, 2016: Post-Harris's rant, Swift is photographed shopping in Australia and going on a movie date with Hiddleston and his Thor cast, including Chris Hemsworth.
Hiddleston gives his first official interview on Taylor Swift to The Hollywood Reporter. When asked about the Hiddleswift conspiracy theories (he's using her to get his Bond role! She's making a music video! It's a cover for Kim, etc.), he laughs them off. "Well, um. How best to put this? The truth is that Taylor Swift and I are together, and we're very happy. Thanks for asking. That's the truth. It's not a publicity stunt."
July 15, 2016: Hiddleston and Swift's friends start talking about their relationship to the press. Thor star Chris Hemsworth in particular talks about the effect Swift has had on Hiddleston. "I've seen Tom around, he looks happy mate, yeah!"
July 17, 2016: Kim Kardashian posts a shady tweet before dropping Snapchats of Swift and Kanye West's recorded "Famous" lyric approval phone call. Swift very clearly approves of at least some of the lyrics. A brief excerpt:
KW: For all my Southside n***** that know me best, I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex.
TS: I'm like this close to over exposure...
KW: Oh well this one, I think this is a really cool thing to have, uh...
TS: I know, I mean it's like a compliment kind of.
KW: All I give a fuck about is just you as a person and as a friend I want things that make...
TS: That's sweet.
KW: I don't want to do rap that makes people feel bad.
TS: Um, yeah I mean go with whatever line you think is better. It's obviously very tongue in cheek either way. And I really appreciate you telling me about it, that's really nice.
#KimExposedTaylorParty trends on Twitter. Swift posts an Instagram response to this—one that gets criticized for looking prewritten:
Selena Gomez attempts to defend Swift and gets torn apart.
Hiddleston remains silent.
July 22, 2016: Swift and Hiddleston return to Los Angeles from Australia. "Tom is not annoyed by the negative media attached to Taylor," a source tells E! News.
July 25, 2016: Hiddleston tries to debunk the rumor that Swift and his relationship is a well-timed distraction post-Kim Kardashian's Snapchat takedown. "It comes down to being authentic," he tells People of dealing with the Hiddleswift hate. "Everything you do you have to make sure you truly believe in it and as long as you know that, it doesn't matter what anyone else says about it because the nature of being a public figure is that everyone will have an opinion about anything you do, and as long as you know why you've done something and you've committed to it with authenticity then you're okay."
July 27, 2016: Swift is filmed crab walking out of the L.A. gym to avoid press photos.
August 3, 2016: Hiddleston heads back to Australia solo—it marks the beginning of Hiddleswift's longest stretch apart (a couple of weeks!).
August 9, 2016: Hiddleston joins Instagram. He's not following Swift.
August 11, 2016: Fans start to worry Hiddleswift has split, as Swift and Hiddleston haven't seen each other in weeks, but Hiddleston is back in L.A. to promote The Night Manager for award season. Swift posts an Instagram story of her gardening with her parents in Rhode Island, far from Hiddleston.
Hiddleswift assures everyone they're OK by following each other on Instagram the next day.
August 13, 2016: Hiddleston does a Facebook Live with The Hollywood Reporter. He addresses what it's been like dating Swift with all the press attention: "What have I learned about it? I've learned to—I don't know, maybe it's too soon to tell. Um, I've learned that there are many sides to a story, and that sometimes there are a lot of stories out there which are false, and the hardest thing is to try to not let those falsehoods affect your own life. That's what I would say." This is his last interview on Swift. (For now.)
August 14, 2016: Hiddleston flies out to Rhode Island on Swift's private jet for a reunion before he leaves the States to go back to Australia for filming. He brings gifts. She's photographed greeting him.
August 24, 2016: Us Weekly reports Hiddleswift has their first major argument in early August. "They weren't spending as much time together," the source explains. "There was so much going on so it was hard making their schedules work, and they were upset they couldn't see each other."
Meanwhile, 2014 Swift—the one who was all about the single life in New York City—reemerges in Manhattan. Aside from skipping the VMAs to do jury duty in Nashville, Swift spends more time in the city, apart from Hiddleston.
September 6, 2016: Us Weekly reports Hiddleston and Swift have broken up—right before the Emmys, where people thought they'd step out on the red carpet together. Swift ended it. "Tom wanted the relationship to be more public than she was comfortable with," a source tells the outlet. "Taylor knew the backlash that comes with public displays of affection but Tom didn't listen to her concerns when she brought them up."
Hiddleston, meanwhile, is "embarrassed that the relationship fizzled out." The two have not officially commented yet.
