It’s unclear what went down between Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston — but what is clear is that, like all of Swift’s exes, Hiddleston got the short end of the stick.
On Tuesday, the hot couple of the summer had called it quits — and Hiddleston was the one who got burned. Swift’s camp alleged that Hiddleston was simply using her to raise his profile as he hopes to land the role of 007 in the next Bond flick.
If he was looking for fame, he got it — along with damage to his reputation that could cost him the gig. Swift, meanwhile, walked away unscathed as usual with material for a new album in tow.
The beautiful pair first titillated Taylor-watchers during the Met Ball in May when a video surfaced of them dancing to The Weeknd. At the time, the hit maker was still in the midst of a 15-month-long relationship with music producer Calvin Harris, which would end in the weeks to follow.
Only two weeks after her high-profile breakup with Harris, in mid-June, Swift and Hiddleston were photographed kissing on a rock on a quiet Westerly, RI, beach.
The lovey-dovey display in the low-key, paparazzi-free New England town reeked of a publicity stunt.
If Hiddleston did have ulterior, publicity-hungry motives, it worked, as the Rhode Island smooch was the beginning of a public affair that played out all over the internet.
Initially, Swift and Hiddleston’s high-wattage union was made in tabloid heaven: she, a perennially scorned pop star, and he, an accomplished but relatively unknown actor who would soon garner an Emmy nod for his suave portrayal of a hotel manager-turned-spy in “The Night Manager.”
Before pairing up with the “Shake It Off” singer, he was mostly known for playing Loki in the Avengers series, not for appearing on Instagram as a handsome accessory to Swift and her squad of supermodels.
A week after their Rhode Island rendezvous, the couple boarded Swift’s private jet and flew to the English countryside to meet Hiddleston’s mother. Miraculously, his mother, Diana, wasn’t the only one there to greet the lithe blonde and her then-beau, who is in the running to become the next James Bond. Photographers managed to capture the chummy trio walking on a deserted beach and strolling lovingly through town, casting more doubtful eyes on the authenticity of this new liaison.
In July, Hiddleston defended his relationship to the Hollywood Reporter, saying, “The truth is that Taylor Swift and I are together, and we’re very happy. Thanks for asking.” He added, “That’s the truth. It’s not a publicity stunt.”
The 35-year-old Brit is now a household name courtesy of his former paramour. He has landed on the cover of numerous weeklies and was in the August issue of W wearing nothing but tight white boxers. During Swift’s Fourth of July party, he cavorted around a Rhode Island beach with the likes of Gigi Hadid, Cara Delevingne, Ruby Rose and Blake Lively while wearing a ridiculous white tank top emblazoned with “I Heart TS.”
But that type of publicity might not play well with the folks anointing the next 007. The franchise has a history of casting low-profile men, like Daniel Craig, who keep their private lives cloaked in a bit of mystery.
Either way, it’s difficult to understand why any man with aspirations outside of becoming Swift roadkill would want to date her.
She has made a career out of being the victim: penning hit songs inspired by breakups and rifts with former friends.
“She comes across as if she has a breezy, down-home personality, but she doesn’t,” an industry insider says of the 26-year-old singer. “Everything she does is calculated, and that carries over into her relationships too.”
When the Swift spin machine began attacking Harris after their split, he lashed out at his ex on Twitter.
“Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to make Me look bad at this stage though,” he tweeted.
He then referenced Swift’s feud with singer Katy Perry, which inspired Swift’s hit “Bad Blood.”
“I know you’re off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy ETC but I’m not that guy. Sorry. I won’t allow it.”
In July, Swift’s holier-than-thou image took a major hit when Kim Kardashian leaked a phone conversation between the singer and Kanye West. Swift had claimed that she had no warning of Kanye’s controversial lyrics about her in his song “Famous,” in which he raps, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex.”
But Kardashian’s video showed that he had contacted her about the song, though he may not have revealed all the lyrics.
Between her two breakups and one public feud in the summer of 2016 alone, Swift will have plenty of fresh fodder for revenge.
Her new album should be imminent.