Tom Hiddleston Speaks Out On Infamous Taylor Swift Shirt

Tom Hiddleston is finally speaking out about his infamous "I HEART T.S." tank top that earned him a whole lot of ridicule—even from his Avengers (2012) co-star Robert Downey, Jr.

As Nicki Swift previously reported, Hiddleston, 35, dated Taylor Swift for three months—from June to September 2016, in a whirlwind romance that included international travel and meeting the parents. The pair split after the very public courtship became too public to handle. Both Swift and HIddleston were accused of using one another for publicity, even after the Thor: The Dark World (2013) star assured journalists the relationship wasn't a publicity stunt.

Since the split, Hiddleston has been quiet, but he opened up to GQ in a big way for its March 2017 issue. "Taylor is an amazing woman. She's generous and kind and lovely, and we had the best time," he said. "Of course it was real."

And that infamous shirt he wore to the beach for her Fourth of July party? He's pretty sensitive about it. "The truth is, it was the Fourth of July and a public holiday and we were playing a game and I slipped and hurt my back," he told the magazine. "And I wanted to protect the graze from the sun and said, 'Does anyone have a T-shirt?' And one of her friends said, 'I've got this.' And we all laughed about it. It was a joke," he insisted. "It was a joke among friends."

The aftermath of the failed romance hit the Night Manager (2016) star hard. "I have to be so psychologically strong about not letting other people's interpretations about my life affect my life. A relationship exists between two people. We will always know what it was. The narratives that are out there altogether have been extrapolated from pictures that were taken without consent or permission, with no context," he fumed. "Nobody had the context for that story. And I'm still trying to work out a way of having a personal life and protecting it, but also without hiding." He added, "I don't know [why the shirt was a big deal]...I just, I was surprised. I was just surprised that it got so much attention. The tank top became an emblem of this thing." Still, he was quick to add, "I only know the woman I met. She's incredible...A relationship always takes work. A relationship in the limelight takes work. And it's not just the limelight. It's everything else." Hiddleston swears that he and Swift, 27, just wanted a "regular relationship."

"I only know the woman I met," he said. "She's incredible...A relationship always takes work. A relationship in the limelight takes work. And it's not just the limelight. It's everything else." Hiddleston swears that he and Swift, 27, just wanted a "regular relationship."

"So we decided to go out for dinner, we decided to travel," he told GQ. "You have to fight for love. You can't live in fear of what people might say. You know, you have to be true to yourself."