Joe Alwyn Is Ready to Talk About Taylor Swift

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One year and one pointed album since Joe Alwyn and Taylor Swift broke up last April, the actor has finally addressed the fallout of their relationship. While Alwyn has generally kept a low profile in comparison to his ex’s omnipresence across the entertainment industry, he seems to be doing just fine — landing a role in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Kinds of Kindness and appearing relatively well groomed at Cannes in a tux. But in speaking to the Sunday Times this week, the original Tortured Man dodged a question about whether he had listened to Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department (some of which was rumored to have been written about Alwyn), implying instead that the real torture was having his six-and-a-half-year relationship picked apart in the public eye.

“I would hope that anyone and everyone can empathize and understand the difficulties that come with the end of a long, loving, fully committed relationship of over six and a half years. That is a hard thing to navigate,” Alwyn told the outlet. “What is unusual and abnormal in this situation is that, one week later, it’s suddenly in the public domain and the outside world is able to weigh in.”

On top of the general fuss over the breakup among fans and tabloids, Alwyn has been the subject of additional scrutiny since Swift announced TTPD in February at the Grammys. The name of the album is supposedly a reference to a group chat Alwyn shares with Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal called the Tortured Man Club, and several songs on the album, like “So Long, London,” make overt references to the Brit. Add that to the mania of Swift’s new relationship with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce, and you’ve got the recipe for one overexposed and stressed-out man at the mercy of Swiftie supersleuths. “It was never something to commodify, and I see no reason to change that now,” Alwyn noted of his relationship. “Look, this is also a little over a year ago now, and I feel fortunate to be in a really great place in my life — professionally and personally. I feel really good.”

And with that, it sounds like it’s high time to let Joe Alwyn protect his peace, once and for all. You go, Joe.