In case you were wondering where Taylor Swift’s legion of famous friends — referred to in Swiftie circles as the ‘Swift Squad’ — had disappeared to, fear not, they’re still going strong. In fact, the group of BFFs may well have a new recruit in the form of Gigi Hadid's current rumoured flame, Bradley Cooper.
After the Squad left dinner in New York City at the weekend, they descended upon Manhattan's hotspot, Zero Bond, where Cooper was waiting to meet up with Hadid.
A source told Entertainment Tonight: 'After the ladies finished with their dinner, they went over to Zero Bond and some other friends joined - including Bradley Cooper.
'Bradley was there to meet up with Gigi. The two of them left the club together.'
The news comes after a recent resurgence of the Swift Squad, which started with Selena Gomez, a longtime member of Swift’s inner circle, who took to Instagram this summer to share a selfie of her and the Shake It Off singer with the caption, ‘Thas my best frien -she a real bad,’ a nod to the opening lyrics to Doja Cat and Saweetie’s 2021 song, Best Friend.
Alongside Gigi Hadid, Blake Lively, Lily Aldridge and all three Haim sisters, Gomez is something of a found member of the Squad, even going so far as to call Swift her ‘only friend in the industry’ in an interview last year.
The pair, whose last public appearance together was at the MTV VMA Awards earlier in September, first became friends in 2008 when they were each dating members of the Jonas Brothers — Swift was dating Joe and Gomez was dating Nick.
During an interview with Seventeen in October 2009, when asked if she has a specific friend she goes to when it comes to love advice, Gomez replied, ‘Every single problem I ever have is healable by Taylor Swift!’
‘If I ever I have an issue, Taylor has gone through it, because she’s older than me, and she gives the most thought-out answers,’ she added. ‘And what I love about Taylor is that she does believe in the whole love story and Prince Charming and soul mates. Because of her, I haven’t lost faith.’
It’s not just Gomez that gushes about her bestie in public, Swift does too. In May 2014, the Anti-Hero singer told E! News that their friendship has ‘been the longest one I think either of us had.’
‘When your life changes and you become thrust into this really strange whirlwind where what your life is — is different from what other people think your life is,’ she added. ‘And your life is commented on and your life is written about and fictionalised and all that.’
Swift added, ‘Both of us have kind of stuck it out and hung in there through all the different changes we’ve gone through.’
After reportedly going through messy break-ups this year with her longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn and suspected rebound fling Matty Healy, it’s no wonder the Swift Squad is back in action.
Naomi May is a freelance writer and editor with an emphasis on popular culture, lifestyle and politics. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard as its Fashion and Beauty Writer, working across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Acting News Editor at ELLE UK and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others.
