The Reasons Taylor Swift Fans Can't Stand Her Ex Joe Alwyn

Following a breakup, you usually sail through the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Swifties seem to ride this emotional rollercoaster as a collective whenever Taylor Swift's love life hits a snag. But in the case of Joe Alwyn, it appears that a massive chunk of the fandom is stuck in the anger phase.

The split between Swift and Alwyn in April 2023 was the kind of news that made waves across the globe. Everyone's hearts broke when Swift and Alwyn, her supposed end game, parted ways after a solid six-year run. It was her longest and most serious relationship to date, with many pegging it as her happily ever after. Fans had a tough time making sense of the split, so many had to resort to detective work to piece together why they didn't work out. Suffice it to say, it wasn't easy, with the pair being notoriously private about anything regarding their romance. But per sources supposedly close to the two of them, it all boiled down to "differences in personalities." Alwyn is apparently too introverted to have a superstar for a partner. "[They] weren't the right fit for one another," an insider told People.

So-called sources aside, Swifties have drawn their own conclusions based on digital crumbs and sheer speculation, and now many have a vendetta against the "Conversations with Friends" actor. The prevailing sentiment? Alwyn wasn't built to deal with Swift's worldwide fame, and his incredibly reserved nature clipped her wings.

Some Swifties appear to be of the mind that Joe Alwyn was either embarrassed about dating Taylor Swift or that he was deliberately keeping her away from them. This was especially prevalent now that Swift is dating NFL star Travis Kelce, who's been anything but shy about having heart eyes on her. From his elaborate efforts to get her attention to sharing the real score between them, Kelce has been an open book compared to Alwyn, who mostly kept to himself. When Swift dropped a TikTok featuring her, Kelce, and her parents in a post-Super Bowl bash, one Swiftie tweeted the obvious, "crying bc she has never once been this open about a relationship. six years of absolutely nothing from joe, taylor not ONCE posting anything like this of him and this just means so much to me im so happy for her."

Some even speculated that Alwyn had taken gatekeeping to the extremes, asking her to keep a low profile like he does. "He DESPERATELY tried to make this very hopeless romantic lovergirl quiet about their relationship, so fine!!" vented another fan.

To be fair to Alwyn, he's always been firm on his stance that he never owes anyone details about his private life, and not once has he strayed from that. "I don't think anyone you meet on the streets would just spill their guts out to you, therefore why should I?" he told Mr. Porter's The Journal. "And then that is defined as being 'strangely private.' Fine. But I don't think it is. I think it's normal." 

Apart from being stingy about his life dating Taylor Swift, Swifties are also irked by what they perceive as Joe Alwyn's lack of support for Swift's career. A fan pointed out Alwyn's notable absences during Swift's key moments, like when she bagged an honorary doctorate from New York University. "Taylor always showed up for him, skipping the f**king Grammys to go to his events, promoting his movies and projects on her IG," one fan tweeted. "He couldn't even show up for her honorary degree speech... men aint s**t."

It didn't help that sources dished that Swift's smitten with Travis Kelce because he's essentially her main hype boy. "Taylor wants a guy that's into his career, does his own thing, but is also supportive and understands her, and Travis fits those qualities," an insider told ET. Fans read between the lines, interpreting this as a glaring sign that Alwyn was anything but a cheerleader, with one saying, "[The news] just proved to me that Joe has never been supportive of her spotlight."

Until Swift offers a tell-all — which is highly unlikely — let's be real, we'll never get to the bottom of these speculations. And it's not like Alwyn will break his silence and defend himself, either. Perhaps fans should just let things blow over until the next drama comes along. After all, there's never a dull moment in Swiftie town.