Summary
- Taylor Swift faced embarrassment when Ellen DeGeneres grilled her about her relationship with Taylor Lautner.
- Ellen DeGeneres repeatedly questioned Taylor Swift about her love life.
- Taylor Swift expressed her dislike for her dating life being treated as a spectator sport by the media.
Superstar musician Taylor Swift was once a recurrent guest on the now-disgraced daytime talk show hosted by Ellen DeGeneres.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show concluded its nineteen-season run in May 2021 after former staff members accused DeGeneres of fostering a toxic work environment. Since then, resurfaced clips on the internet have revealed other unsavory moments about the show.
For example, in 2009, Taylor Swift was hot on the heels of her sophomore album "Fearless" (2008), which produced such hits as "Love Story" and "You Belong With Me". The Ellen DeGeneres show was still popular during that time, as people were blissfully unaware of all the drama behind the scenes. That year, Taylor made another appearance on the show to discuss many topics. However, DeGeneres went off script and caused significant embarrassment for Taylor Swift when she grilled her for details about her then-boyfriend, actor Taylor Lautner.
Ellen DeGeneres Repeatedly Questioned Taylor Swift About Her Romance With Taylor Lautner
IIn October 2009, Taylor Swift walked out to loud cheers from the audience on the stage of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Almost immediately, DeGenerous profusely complimented Swift's sweet disposition and artistic growth.
Ellen then mentioned what an extraordinary year Taylor Swift had in terms of her many career accomplishments. Taylor then sweetly presented a framed plaque of her "Fearless" album, which went five times platinum since its November 2008 release.
After Taylor Swift told about an inspiring encounter with Stevie Wonder the night President Barack Obama was elected, DeGeneres asked her about the feature-length film she was to appear in Valentine's Day featuring an all-star cast including Bradley Cooper, Queen Latifah, Julia Roberts, Patrick Dempsey, and Taylor Lautner.
Before she could respond, Ellen DeGeneres asked Swift who her scenes were with, and Swift innocently said Taylor Lautner,
At the 2009 MTV VMA's, Lautner, like Swift, found himself unexpectedly amid Kanye West's ire over Taylor Swift's video "You Belong With Me" winning over Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" video.
Lautner had akwardly laughed and watched in dismay as West abruptly snatched the award from Swift's hand and interrupted her speech. And ever since that day, rumors circulated that the young stars were an item.
Ellen DeGeneres, fully aware of the romance rumors, then stated that Taylor Lautner was cute, to which Taylor rather shyly agreed that he was.
DeGeneres then showed a photo of Swift and Lautner's characters kissing for a scene in Valentine's Day. Ellen joked to Taylor, "What's happening there?"
As the audience laughed, Taylor Swift lowered her head in embarrassment and giggled briefly. She said that it was just a part of the movie.
However, Ellen DeGeneres refused to let the subject go and showed a picture on the screen of Lautner and Swift sitting close to each other at a sporting event.
Ellen then grilled Taylor Swift about the picture and requested to know what they were doing.
Taylor, who appeared slightly flustered, kept her composure, answered that she was just a huge hockey fan, and said that Lautner shared her interest.
Ellen then asked if they ran into each other at the game, to which Swift wouldn't answer.
DeGeneres, unperturbed, then mentioned how their names were confusing because they were both named Taylor.
The "Shake It Off" singer added a humorous story that happened on the set of Valentine's Day when a crew member said, "Hey Taylor to makeup, not you, the other one. And hey, Taylor over there, not you, the tan one."
Swift said to clear up the confusion; she requested that everyone call Lautner "Taylor" and her "Swiftie".
Ellen DeGeneres then asked Swift if "Taylor Lautner was a good kisser"?
Looking slightly embarrassed about this invasion into her romantic life, Taylor Swift replied: "What?" which effectively ended the line of questioning.
Ellen DeGeneres Made Taylor Swift Uncomfortable When She Brought Up Her Love Life
Taylor Swift's October 2009 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show wasn't the end of her awkward and evasive interviews with Ellen DeGeneres.
The "Bad Blood" singer appeared on her show years later, and almost immediately, DeGeneres grilled Taylor again about her love life. The former began by implying that the last time Swift was on the show, she was with her 'boyfriend', actor Zack Efron.
While Taylor smiled at the jarring implication and answered, "We never dated." Ellen interrupted her and joked, "Yes, you did," which elicited awkward laughs from the audience.
The show then aired a throwback clip of when Taylor Swift and Zack Efron sang an impromptu song on the show. In the clip, Taylor sang that Ellen had once crouched in a bathroom with a hidden camera, which startled her. She mentioned how the host always asked her questions about her love life, and she didn't understand why other than it garnered the show lots of views on YouTube.
The interview got even more awkward when DeGeneres presented Swift with a bell and asked her to play a game wherein she showed pictures of all the men she dated or was rumored to have dated.
DeGeneres explained that the audience would have to guess which man Taylor allegedly wrote "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" about.
While Taylor Swift insisted that she didn't want to play along for the sake of her dignity, Ellen ignored it and proceeded with the game.
The show then projected a series of images of Taylor posing with Zac Efron, Taylor Lautner, John Mayer, and even actor Danny Devito.
Taylor then said half-jokingly and half in seriousness:
What are you doing to me, Ellen? This is mean. It makes me feel so bad about myself because every time I come up here, you put me up there with a different dude on the screen...It's really sad.
Fans of the singer will know that Swift has often expressed in interviews how she dislikes her dating life being the subject of media attention.
In a report by Hola!, Swift addressed a crowd at New York State University as she accepted her honorary doctorate degree.
At one point during the speech, Swift mentioned how she had grown tired of the media talking about her dating history:
Having the world treat my love life like a spectator sport in which I lose every single game was not a great way to date in my teens and twenties, but it taught me to protect my private life fiercely.
