#Gyllenswift

[deepdivearchives]

Did I discover the identity of Jake’s friend from the “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” studio session?

We’ve all heard the story before, several times. x x x

So I was in the middle of a completely unrelated deep dive when I uncovered a piece of Swiftie lore that’s been unsolved for over a decade: who was the random guy that barged into Taylor’s studio session with Max Martin and Shellback to talk about Jake Gyllenhaal? I think I figured it out.. allegedly. Of course I wasn’t there so I cannot actually be sure. But let’s break it down.

Max Martin tells the story about how WANEGBT was written in this interview. (@ 52:30) He says,

“We had our first day with her at Conway Studios…and Maroon 5 was recording next door— like the next studio next door — and this guy shows up, a friend of theirs, and we literally haven’t started the session yet. He comes over there, ‘Hey, I heard Taylor Swift was here. I’ve got to say hello.’

I’m like, ‘Uh… really?’

And he goes, ‘Oh no, I totally know her. It’s fine. We’re friends.’

So he walks in—and turns out, he didn’t know her. But I’m sort of vouching for this guy, like, ‘Hey, here’s… as you know,’ [and she’s just like], ‘No, I don’t know.’

He started talking about some ex-boyfriend he wanted her to call—it was really messy. And he leaves and I apologize.”

They then work on something else and come back to the idea of WANGBT the next day.

And because we know from Taylor that “Message in a Bottle” was the first song they ever wrote together, Max’s story confirms that this was the song they worked on the day Jake and Maroon 5’s friend walked in.

While promoting the Red album, Taylor mentioned that in January 2012, she told her label and producer that she wanted to branch out and work with new people. She began reaching out and scheduling studio sessions with different producers. In one interview, she recalls emailing Max Martin with an idea for a song, even though she wasn’t scheduled to work with him for “almost six months.” If she sent that email in January, then “almost six months” later would place their first session in late May.

This is also backed up by the Lover diary entry from June 10, 2012 where she talks about spending the first week of June writing “22” and “IKYWT” with “the guys I wrote ‘getting back together’ with”.

So I looked at Adam Levine’s tweets from that time and found a gold mine. Although Maroon 5 had finished recording the Overexposed album— entirely at Conway Studios — around April 14th, they just so happened to be in the studio on May 22nd to record a special edition deluxe track. And Adam has brought along his friend/roommate, Gene Hong.

The tweets about being in the studio and Gene messing with his computer are 5 minutes apart.

Here is Adam talking about working on this song. x

So I google Gene Hong and his wikipedia page literally identifies him as the best friend of Jake Gyllenhaal.

So it’s not like they are only friends because of Adam. Jake says he and Adam are still close because of Gene.

Here are some articles and photos of them through the years.

x x x x x

After reading through his tweets and credentials (notably, Wild ‘n Out) he seems to be the out-there, comedian type. The type of person that would be bold enough to crash his friend’s ex-girlfriend’s workplace essentially — despite never having met her before, according to Taylor.

It’s entirely possible that I’m wrong here and their first session was actually earlier in the month. But it’s worth noting that she was pretty busy for most of May. She was confirmed to have written Forever Winter, Run, Everything Has Changed and who knows what else. I once thought they had their first session around April 14th while Adam Levine was still finishing up the standard version of his album but because of Taylor specifically saying they were scheduled to write together “almost six months” after she emailed him, that just doesn’t seem likely now.

Disclaimer: This is 100% alleged. Do not take this as fact. I don’t know these people and I was not there that day. Taylor has never confirmed what day it happened or who this person was. Everything I posted was public information. 😁👍🏻

[gyllencevans8]

Phoebe Dynevor and I have the same taste. I also think it's funny that Jake Gyllenhaal and Taylor Swift are together like this on her list of people she follows.

Gyllenswift will always be famous in my heart. Jake and Taylor are the bane of my existence and the objects of all my desires.

[whatiwillsay]

Would love if u did an ep on late stage gyllenswift someday bc u’ve mentioned it a few times and pics of them hanging out but the only timelines are made by kaylors who think they were fake

we talked about it in our gyllenswift episode

i wouldn’t call it late stage it was only 3 months after they broke up the first time. taylor details it in all too well 10 minute version.

[dreamaboutwhathappens]

this highlight from @silkchifffon’s gyllenswift timeline has got me Thinking

it’s interesting what shows up as themes in our lives. especially with all the parallels between ttpd and red… thinking.

[magxit]

Mine was Taylor and Joe #1, lived through the horror John rumors. And of course Gyllenswift but I thought he was too old lol

Haylor was traumatic for me.

[youareinlove]

I fear i’m in worse position cause’ i don’t know the jake anon lore lmao

oh boy here's the rundown:

started out as an anon who confessed that they initially wanted a gyllenswift revival after joever, and when i was like ??? they were like "i thought he changed" and i made an "i can fix him (no really i can)" joke basically saying they needed to learn from her saying "whoa maybe i can't"

anon was like "well she doesn't need to end up with him but i want him bc he's hot" and i was like 👍 this is great i'm obsessed and the icon jake anon as we know them was born

they adopted the pittsburgh steelers as their football team because that's jake's football team, angering a different anon of mine (packers anon). packers anon has more lore attached that is completely separate but they're not around as much right now because their real job is to cure cancer. anyway them and jake anon are frenemies because of this development

jake anon said their home team was actually the miami dolphins because they live in miami (their dad is a big fan) and they don't care about football at all but kinda support both these teams for the bit

then we learned they were an architect and we were all shellshocked (other facts we'd learned at this point: they hated it when jake shaved the beard, they desperately wanted jake to go back to the indie movies, and the first jake gyllenhaal movie they watched was love and other drugs and it rewired their brain)

eventually they started using this 🧣 emoji

jake anon was already an icon at this point, like they were (and are) all of our parasocial internet bestie. other facts about them are that they like the tv show sex and the city (they have influenced me to start watching it), cheesecake, and berry sangria. they also want to get out of florida

then a different anon told us that their friend was dressing as jake gyllenhaal for their liverpool show and jake anon was like "...i am also trying to get liverpool tickets no way"

anon's friend who was dressing up as jake gyllenhaal for eras was dubbed "jake dupe" because i made a joke about jake anon wanting to meet jake dupe being the equivalent of me getting a folklore cardigan dupe alkdjflfsjd

jake anon turned out to be really good at mastermind and is our MVP

it turned out that jake dupe is also floridian (he supports the buccaneers but whatever). the plot thickens

we discovered that they both had floor tickets to liverpool n2 and this became an actual possible reality that everyone was super hyped about

jake anon decided to wear the equivalent of donna kelce's chiefs/eagles jersey but for the steelers and the dolphins (picked bradshaw's jersey for the steelers because of carrie bradshaw LOL)

jake dupe was dressed as that one photo of jake gyllenhaal where he's wearing a shirt that says "i was a gay cowboy before it was cool"

today was liverpool n2 and they met! for real! most of the events of today are accessible via scrolling

[thelasttime]

i don't really use ship names that much except for relationships that are really really old but i believe the popular ones were/are

jaylor (joe j and taylor)

taylor squared (taylor lautner and taylor)

gyllenswift (jake and taylor)

taco (conor kennedy and taylor but i don't think anyone shipped this)

haylor (harry and taylor)

tayvin (calvin and taylor)

hiddleswift (tom and taylor) (also rip)

swiftwyn (joe a and taylor)

maylor (matty and taylor but i think a very specific subset of people ship this)

tayvis (travis and taylor)

is this mostly correct?

HIDDLESWIFT LET ME HEAR YOU MAKE SOME NOOOOOOOISE

[bisluthq]

I just remembered that when Speak Now TV came out people were speculating that Electric Touch was about Jake ??? Gyllenhaal ??? How and why people came to that conclusion I have no idea.

Like, is it possible? I guess, maybe, yeah. Is it likely? I really don't think so.

To be fair, this take was generally perpetuated by people who seem to have an "analytical" fixation on Gyllenswift for the Wrong reasons, so clearly their ability to reach is out of this world😭 on top of that, a lot of them seem to truther that they were going out earlier than is publicly accepted (Sep-Oct 2010, gets stretched to like July-Aug which 1) I find difficult to believe and 2) isn't backed up by anything but "vibes").

Also I don't know how much "post-breakup" Gyllenswift truthering you've engaged in off the top of my head, but I feel pretty solid in the notion that she and Jake called things off for GOOD around like March 2011.

Then she was really sad about it, he kept trying to call her, she kept writing songs rather than responding. Then come April 2012 and he's STILL insisting that they'll get back together (which might indicate a continued communication, but other shit she's said and the timeline for when certain songs were written makes me think that at the VERY least they took a LONG break throughout 2011/did not get back together post March).

One of their Big pieces of evidence was that she wrote The Last Time in May 2012. And shit like that (+ that interview that got released in early 2012 where she off-handedly mentioned jake to the staff) does open me up to the idea of a potential post-Begin Again's conception rekindling, especially since learning that she actually started writing Begin Again in March 2011 (that on top of writing Better Man and finishing All Too Well... Jesus), so the "8 months" might be in reference to the time it took to finish the song, rather than the time since the breakup.

This got WAY off track, but in conclusion, people are Weird about Gyllenswift, and I am lowkey people😭

I think solid thoughts but imo Gyllenswift was a mess.

[womanexile]

There are toes,haylors,gaylors who ship her with zoe,karlie,dianna,hiddleswifties i wonder If gyllenswift shippers exist since the culture love a controversal age gapes with toxicism and intensity

I bet they’re out there. There are shippers for anything.

[taylorsmusexo]

My takes on Taylor’s “relationships”

Nobody asked for this, but I’m going to write it out anyway. 🤷‍♀️

I was introduced to the Gaylor community in 2020, right after folklore came out. I started out as a Kaylor and then saw the light. I’ve been lurking, reading, listening, and vibing. Here are my current thoughts/takes.

In (attempted) chronological order (kinda):

Joe Jonas: I think it was real. Taylor fell hard. She was way more into him than he was into her. Don’t think they ever had sex.

Martin Johnson: I think they secretly dated because her parents didn’t really approve and her team thought he wasn’t good for her image.

Emily Poe: I think they were close and Taylor had a crush. Nothing more.

John Mayer: I don’t think they dated or had sex. I think Taylor really looked up to him and maybe he was creepy and tried to come on to her and she freaked out. She figured out what a tool he is.

Lucas Till: Maybe went out on a few dates. He had a crush and she wasn’t super into him.

Julianne Hough: I think they probably were hooking up/fwb/just having some fun.

Taylor Lautner: Totally fake. PR for their movie.

Cory Monteith, Chord Overstreet, Will Anderson: Went out on a few dates maybe. Nothing serious.

Liz Huett: Bffs. Maybe hooked up/made out but nothing serious and no real feelings.

Jake Gyllenhal: Real. He totally broke her heart. Probably lost the v card to him.

Dianna Agron: Dated secretly. Didn’t work out because the closeting was too hard. The one that got away.

Connor Kennedy (I initially forgot him): I think he was mostly PR/a setup to coverup for Dianna. But then her & Dianna got in a fight/went on a break and she kinda used him to make Dianna jealous. He was a HS guy so obvi he was gonna go along with whatever to hang out with a beautiful and famous 22 year old. Also she was obsessed with the Kennedys and got to cosplay as a Kennedy 1950’s housewife lol.

Harry Styles: Totally fake. I think it was meant to last longer than it did but Harry didn’t like it. I think they are friendly these days and like each other as people.

Karlie Kloss: Started out as PR bffs. Became real bffs.,Taylor caught feelings. Maybe some hooking up/confusing experimenting for Karlie going on. Karlie chose Josh. Taylor was heartbroken. Karlie betrayed her.

Calvin Harris: Mostly PR but but were probably hooking up. Probably not monogamous or serious. Meant to remind people Taylor is totes not gay after all the Kaylor rumors.

Tom Hiddleston: I think she kinda used him for PR and to make Calvin jealous, and he actually was really into her. They probably were hooking up for real.

Lily Donaldson: I think they def had something at the beginning of Toe. I think Toe started off not monogamous and she was hooking up/dating Lily at the same time as early stages of Toe.

Joe Alwyn: I think they are real but it’s not the fairytale Angel boyfriend romance she has tried to sell. I think they have been on and off and are kinda toxic.

Conclusion: I hope Taylor can one day be truly happy and at peace. I’d love to discuss if anyone wants to!

[gyllencevans8]

Funny how Jake Gyllenhaal says that he has never done Shakespeare professionally, but the Bard himself called him a professio—[GUNSHOT].

[whatiwillsay]

Cam you answered an ask last week (I can't find it right now maybe you can?) with a Patreon episode about all the Gaylor tea you've heard from insiders. Forgive me if you've answered this before (I'm a new listener and even newer Patreon) but what makes you so sure that she's into men as well if you have heard so much tea about her with women? Feel free to answer on the Patreon if that's easier.

yes! this is the ask you're referring to!

and i just now recorded an episode with some scandalous tea about taylor and jake and taylor and joe and some other bits to answer your great question! enjoy!

[cowboylikedean]

before i go to bed tonight, i just want to post this thought because it’s been floating around my mind for 9 years and i just...

everyone talks about how taylor could write these gut wrenching songs about a 3 month relationship

and the retorts to that are usually “she was young” (YES and 3 months is MUCH longer to a 20 year old! true! “he was the first person she had sex with” (YES and that does come with a certain emotional attachment! true!) “she falls hard fast” (YES and that is something she talks about a lot! true!) 

all of these are true! but there’s an element that the film highlights so well i have seen almost no one talk about.....

that relationship only ended that quickly because he underestimated how much she’d fight back.

the last time and wanegbt both talk about taylor fighting back and that leading to the end, only to start all over again when he apologized. and the film shows perfectly how it goes... he didn’t expect her to fight that hard. he drops her hand and attempts to make her feel small, to keep her under his control, and she stands her ground. he apologizes, she never does.

and that’s key... she’s holding him, hugging him, at the end of that fight... and her face says “i feel so small,” but she doesn’t let her voice disappear. 

when he breaks up with her, she’s screaming at him to look at her. he’s quiet and she’s furious. she says his idea of her was “never needing” and “ever loving,” a “jewel whose shine reflects on [him].” he treated her like she never needed anything, she would always love and jump with affection, who shined to make him look better. 

and he left her when that wasn’t the case

he says so many things in that fight to get her to say “I’m sorry you’re right, I was making a big deal and I shouldn’t.” but she doesn’t. she says “you’re making me feel stupid” but she doesn’t say “I’m stupid.” 

And then he tells her if they were closer in age, maybe it would have been fine... and that made her want to die.... because he’s STILL trying to get her to submit to him and she’s still fighting. she refuses to submit to him and just... LET him tell her how to think and feel and THAT was why they fell apart. they broke up because SHE WOULDN’T BE SILENT FOR HIM. he goes after younger girls for the purpose of using their inexperience to trick them into silence but TAYLOR WAS UNWILLING. 

and THAT’S how she can write all these songs about a 3 month relationship. because the abusive and manipulative energy he put into it was hoping for a much longer payoff but her unwillingless to be silent forced the ending early.

[taylortruther]

gyllenswift is still so interesting to me. like why was jake gyllenhaal, a 30 year old well established actor by that point, dating a 20 year old country singer??how did they even meet. and the whole relationship was so messy too, it lasted for months, taylor thought she was gonna marry him, there was cheating, jake used adam levine to try to talk to taylor again… and then, after it all ends, jake listens to the album and writes her an email about it 😭 you could make a full length tv show about what went down

see, some people will come at me for judging josh and karlie's relationship where they met when he was 28 and she was 19... yet we all agree the jake/taylor thing is SO WEIRD. i'm just mentioning this for posterity, i know you didn't say anything about karlie lmao

but yeah, it's wild to think all the shit that went down. makes you realize why dudes date women that young (because women his age are less likely to put up with that shit.) and good for taylor for knowing when dudes don't deserve another shot.

[magxit]

What’s his last name? I think that’s also a combo well at least that was the deal with gyllenswift

Galitzine

Galitswift?

[youareinlove]

my beloved gyllenswift🧣

guys please this is a joke

i know he's eating pasta here can we pretend it's olive garden