Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran’s friendship may be hitting a bit of a rough patch — at least according to recent reports surrounding their music releases.
The “Perfect” singer, 34, dropped his eighth studio album, Play, on September 12, only for Swift to release her 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl (LOAS), a mere three weeks later on October 3. The timing has sparked speculation of tension between the longtime friends, who first collaborated on Swift’s Red album in 2012 with the hit “Everything Has Changed.”
An insider told the Daily Mail, “Ed takes these things really seriously, and carefully plans his album releases. He announced his album with four months’ notice, but then Taylor announced hers for just two weeks after.” They added that Sheeran was “very much put out and understandably peeved,” noting that “it is not the first time that Taylor has done something like this. She’s got form.”
The result? Sheeran’s album, which debuted at No. 1 the week of release, quickly dropped out of the Top 10 once Swift’s record hit shelves, leaving his team scrambling to keep attention on his work. Sheeran has previously explained how strategic timing is crucial. Speaking to the BBC in 2017 about the release of his ÷ (Divide) album, he said, “Everyone I was scared of releasing albums around me released them all last year — people like Beyonce and The Weeknd and Bruno Mars. Taylor isn’t going to be releasing until probably the end of this year — Christmas is the smartest time to release because that’s when everyone buys records.”
While the music release drama makes headlines, Swift and Sheeran have reassured fans there’s no real bad blood. Weeks prior, Sheeran revealed that he found out about Swift’s engagement to Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce via Instagram. “Instagram,” he said during an August SiriusXM Small Stage Series interview. “I didn’t even get a DM in advance.”
Swift addressed the oversight during an October interview with Jimmy Fallon, saying, “He doesn’t have a phone. And this is one thing I love about him. It’s very eccentric. Love it. But when I’m going through saying, ‘Hey, who should we call? Who should we FaceTime?’ I’m going through my texts and being like, ‘Who have I texted within the last like, month of my life?’ Then, when the news came out, I was like, ‘Oh my God we forgot to call Ed! Oh no!’”
She added, “He’s like family. I love him. But he doesn’t have a phone!” — underscoring that the two are still close despite rumors of a strained friendship.
