OK SO MY FRIEND DOESN’T BELIEVE HAYLOR WAS A STUNT SO LET’S TALK
NOTHING MUCH HAPPENED BETWEEN TAYLOR AND HARRY UNTIL FALL 2012. EVEN THEN HARRY BARELY ACKNOWLEDGED THEY WERE DATING. YET SHE SUPPOSEDLY WROTE MUCH OF RED ABOUT HIM??! LET’S LOOK AT THE FACTS.
March 31
Taylor and Harry meet at the Kid’s Choice Awards. She danced to their performance. Harry is newly 18. Taylor is 22.
However unlike what many Haylor’s believe, after the show Taylor goes to Dianna Agron’s house.
April 5
News reports that Taylor Swift and One Direction went to a pool party at Justin Bieber’s house. Rumor has it Taylor told Justin she was interested in Harry and that the two exchanged numbers.
April 8
Fans think Harry and Taylor met up at the Bowery Hotel, but Taylor is there with Dianna and Harry is there with the band (including Louis). A source told Vanity Fair in 2013 AFTER THIS WAS ALL OVER about the April 2012 fling, describing it “a weekend where they got really close and he was all, like, ‘You’re amazing - I want to be with you. I want to do this.’
April 12
Dianna denies a love triangle with Taylor and Tim Tebow on Jimmy Kimmel. When Kimmel, 44, asked Agron if she was interested in dating Swift, 22, she laughed. “Wouldn’t that be juicy?” She then blew her a kiss.
April 16
Harry confirmed he and Taylor exchanged numbers and that they are just friends.
Nothing much happens between Harry and Taylor for many months
Harry is subsequently papped kissing Emily Ostilly. Then he is linked to Cara Delevigne. Taylor “dates” Connor Kennedy.
August 13
Taylor’s “We are Never Ever Getting Back Together” single is released.
September 6
Popstar reported that Harry and his bandmates watched Taylor’s final MTV Video Music Awards rehearsal. A group ate at LA’s Katsuya after. Harry and Taylor both took photos with fans.
September 16
Taylor papped for the last time with Connor Kenedy. Break up reported in October.
October 6
On the Jonathan Ross Show, Taylor hints that she is seeing someone and that he is good-looking. Hmm. Does she mean Connor? That’s not a secret.
October 7
Taylor and 1D performed at London’s Radio 1 Teen Awards, and Harry and Taylor reportedly hung out a lot backstage. The Sun reported Taylor was going to dinner with a member of the band. The dinner was subsequently canceled. When One Direction was later asked about the rumor during an Irish chat show appearance, Louis Tomlinson suggested that Harry “take this one”. However, Harry replied that he “didn’t get asked” to dinner.
October 9
Taylor’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” is released as a single.
October Seventeen Magazine
Harry says he is single. He names Taylor as one of his celebrity crushes, alongside Rihanna and Rita Ora, telling Seventeen: “She honestly couldn’t be a sweeter person. She’s genuinely nice and extremely talented, and she deserves everything she has.”
October 22
Taylor’s Red album is released.
November Cosmopolitan Magazine
Harry told Cosmopolitan that he was currently dating someone: “There’s someone I like. If you’re shown in the papers with other girls when you really like someone else, that’s difficult. But still, I think it’s important if you’re thinking about starting a relationship to do it away from the spotlight. I thought I [had a type] but this girl I like isn’t my ‘type’. It’s more about the person. How they act, their body language, if they can laugh at themselves. I find ambition really attractive too - if someone’s good at something they love doing. I want someone who is driven.”
(Wow it’s gender neutral except for one reference to a girl he likes who isn’t his type. It’s almost as if this could be read entirely differently. Also almost like this is a planted story.)
November 7
Taylor wears a paper airplane necklace that seems to match Harry’s. It is not an actual match though. His is much wider. Harry had been wearing his since early October.
November 14
Harry flies from New York to LA and accompanies Taylor to a rehearsal for her X Factor performance. “Sources” say they were flirting.
November 22
1D’s second studio album, Take Me Home, is released.
December 2
Taylor and Harry are photographed at the zoo in Central Park. That night they have dinner with their mutual friend Ed Sheeran and Harry’s mom and stepdad. This is reported to be only their second date.
But in early November Harry tells Cosmo he is dating someone.
Considering Harry’s earlier comment about starting relationships out of the spotlight it seems odd they would walk around NYC. What follows in the media show of December is even weirder.
December 3
Ed, the 1D boys, and Taylor stay out late at One Direction’s Madison Square Garden after party. They sing karaoke together. Harry and Taylor are papped arriving back at Taylor’s hotel at 4 am. Harry is papped leaving the hotel in the morning and the morning after that. This dramatic dancing photo was taken.
December 6
Dianna joined the pair for dinner before they all went to Emma Stone’s birthday party.
December 7
The 1D boys are asked about Haylor. Louis is salty. He may have even said, “if that” after this.
December 10
Harry and Taylor fly together to London in her jet. Taylor attends One Direction’s performance on the finale of the X Factor.
Other stunts happen
They fly in Taylor’s private jet. They feed birds and eat meals with family members in London and LA. They celebrate Taylor’s 23rd birthday together.
December 13
IKYWT mv is released, starring a bad boy with a ship tattoo on his forearm.
December 18
Taylor goes with Harry while he gets a tattoo of a ship that is largely believed to be done in tandem with Louis, who got a compass tattoo by the same artist the next day.
December 20
Harry is asked about Taylor on the X Factor red carpet. When the interviewer asks Harry what his thoughts on “Haylor” are Louis says, “I’d love to know!” Harry simply says, “I dunno.” Louis then follows this comment up with, “It is what it is!” (which he’d later get tattooed on his chest) and they look at each other and laugh. In another interview on the red carpet he is asked if what he has with Taylor is a relationship and he says, “maybe, yeah.” MAYBE.
December 21-24
They go on a ski trip. There is a snowmobile accident. Harry injures his chin. (Out of the Woods is likely referencing this event.)
December 31
Harry does not attend Taylor’s performance at Dick Clark’s Rockin New Year’s Eve, but does kiss her on camera at midnight. Wow Harry looks thrilled!
January 4 2013
The infamous breakup on the Virgin Islands. Taylor goes home looking dejected.
Taylor goes on to make every effort to tie Red songs to Harry. January 5 2013 she tweets “till you put me down” a lyric from “I Knew You Were Trouble” to tie Harry to the song.
She does a mock British accent during her Grammy performance of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” followed by thanking the inspiration of her song. I can’t honestly understand how she managed to get the ship tattoo to work out but somehow she did, making fans think IKYWT was definitely about Harry.
April 16 2013
Stars Daily published an article claiming Dianna and Taylor were together. It went viral.
This added pressure made it especially important that Taylor continue her bearding and song inspiration narrative. So Taylor continued to write songs with lyrical references to Harry on 1989 (snowmobile crash, Style, etc.). She even uses the airplane necklace in the Out of the Woods mv.
So what exactly happened?
There was initial unfounded speculation between the two in early 2012. It was encouraged by one or both of their PR teams. Meanwhile, Taylor was involved with Dianna and Harry was involved with Louis. They both needed a beard.
At the end of 2012 both put out new albums, promoted in part by their “relationship”. Taylor was able to construct a very public narrative that supported her lyrics about toxic on and off relationships. She was also able to distract from Dianna, which was an actual concern given Jimmy Kimmel’s line of questioning in April 2012.
Harry was retroactively described as a cheater via “sources”, fan narratives, and suggestive lyrics/interviews/mv details. A lot of this centered around the photos of him kissing Emily O, but he Taylor had barely interacted at that point. They were not dating or stunting. It does not appear to me that they decided to actively beard until later that year. Even then, the beginning was a bit sloppy with contradictory reports about when they began dating. This worked in Taylor’s favor for the narrative of a messy on and off relationship.
Can anyone else chime in with important information for how the timeline came together and most importantly why Taylor was interested in bearding with Harry?
Resources
Thanks to @whenhazzametlou and @helplessgay for your great masterposts!
Full swiftgron masterpsot for more on Dianna Agron timeline and that relationship This blog is now defunct.
Full Swiftgron masterpost for more about Taylor’s relationship with Dianna Agron
Haylor timeline from a non-Gaylor
Haylor timeline compared to Larry timeline aka how badly did Harry need a beard to distract? (BADLY)
PS I STILL LOVE MY FRIEND.
