Relive Taylor Swift And Jack Antonoff’s Friendship Over the Years

Swift and Antonoff briefly met at the 2012 MTV European Music Awards and then again ran into each other at the 2012 Grammy Nominations party. The two immediately bonded over their shared taste in music – more specifically Yazoo’s 1982 ’80s synth-laden “Only You,” Antonoff told True Jersey in 2019.

For a 2017 New York Times feature on Antonoff, the publication tapped Swift to share her invaluable insight into Antonoff’s musical genius. “Sometimes he sits at the piano, and we both just start ad-libbing, and the song seems to create itself,” Swift wrote about her friend. “His excitement and exuberance about writing songs is contagious. He’s an absolute joy. That’s why everyone loves him. I personally wouldn’t trust someone who didn’t.”

Following the release of her 2020 documentary “Miss Americana,” a behind-the-scenes clip of Swift and Antonoff went viral on social media. The video shows the two ad-libbing and spitballing lyrics back and forth in the studio until they stumble across the fully-formed bridge of “Getaway Car” from “Reputation.” The candid exhilaration the two experienced at the moment is perfectly captured in the video that Swift was filming on her phone.

In an October 2023 sit-down chat with Today, Antonoff reflected on this viral moment and what made it so magical. “That video is popular for the perfect reason, which is that is the only time in my life, the million hours I spent in studios, that a camera was ever on…when magic actually happened,” he said.

In a July 2021 chat with NME, Antonoff praised Swift’s efforts to revolutionize the music scene as she continuously advocates for artist’s rights and fair pay in the industry. “I’ve seen her change the music industry first-hand,” he told the publication. “She’s amazing for being a champion, and making things better for the generations to come. She has a long history of rightly exposing some real darkness in the music industry. And I’m personally thankful for it, outside of our friendship and working relationship, just as an artist. She’s asked me some questions a lot of people are afraid to ask.”

During his guest appearance on “The Plug with Neil Griffiths” podcast in July 2021, he also touched on the faith Swift put in him as a producer, which firmly put him on the map as a credible music producer, having worked with A-list musicians like Lorde, Lana Del Ray, and Carly Rae Jepsen. “If you’re a producer, you kind of need someone to let you into the room because I was always producing my records and stuff like that, but it’s weird it’s seen in a different way,” he said. “When [“1989″] came out, it was the thing that people kind of needed to see on the résumé when I say, ‘Hey, I can produce this song that I worked on.’ Went from, ‘Well, who are you?’ to ‘Sure!'”

In a January 2022 interview with the Los Angeles Times, the English musician Damon Albarn claimed that Swift “doesn’t write her own songs.” Swift hit back immediately, tweeting her response to the false allegations. “@DamonAlbarn I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really fucked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW,” she wrote in the tweet.

During the Feb. 10, 2022, episode of “The What Podcast,” Antonoff, who was a guest, spoke out about Albarn’s controversial comment on Swift’s artistry. “I don’t mind talking sh*t, like this or that, but I don’t like it when artists take almost this Trumpian approach of just making things up,” he said, adding, “I don’t care if Damon Albarn or anyone likes or doesn’t like something. But to unequivocally make a statement that isn’t true, that you actually have no idea about, and not to get too deep on it? Isn’t that kind of everything that’s wrong with our world at the moment? People talking about shit that they have no clue about?”

At the 2022 Grammy Awards, Swift took home the trophy for the best music video for her short film “All Too Well (10 Minute Version).” Antonoff, who was nominated for the second time for non-classical producer of the year, also nabbed the prize, and Swift was there to cheer him on.

During her May 26 East Rutherford, NJ, stop of the Eras Tour, Swift brought out Antonoff as a guest performer during the acoustic set of the concert. The duo performed “Getaway Car” off “Reputation” on guitar, as the crowds went wild.

In an August episode for Time’s “Person of the Week” podcast, Antonoff looked back on his friendship with Swift. “She’s the first person who recognized me as a producer,” he said of the “Anti-Hero”s singer. “A lot of people are afraid to sign off on something that isn’t done by a proven person. I had written lots of songs and produced them, but they would always sort of go somewhere else. So the label or whoever could say, oh, we had this person produce it. And, you know, I put my heart and soul into that song and she said, ‘I love it.'”

On Aug 19, 2023, Antonoff and actress Margaret Qualley tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in New Jersey in the presence of their close friends and family members. Swift was also in attendance for the nuptials, along with celebrity guests like Lana Del Ray, Zoë Kravitz, and Channing Tatum.