Taylor Lautner Said Taylor Swift “Absolutely” Broke Up With Him

When Taylor Swift re-released Speak Now in July, Swifties did not just revisit the iconic album — they also paid homage to one of her most popular exes, Taylor Lautner. Swift famously wrote one of her most romantic songs about their 2009 relationship, and it’s fair to say that fans “go back to December all the time.” But they aren’t the only ones. In a December Call Her Daddy interview, Lautner opened up about his brief but oh-so-memorable romance with Swift, and clarified some important details for the first time.

According to Lautner, Swift “absolutely” broke up with him... although it took a minute to remember what went down since they “were so young” at the time. “I’m thinking back on exactly what happened. But no, yeah, she did,” he confirmed to Call Her Daddy’s host Alex Cooper.

ICYMI, Swift and Lautner dated for a couple months in 2009 after meeting on the set of Valentine’s Day. He was even on stage during that iconic VMAs moment when Kanye West interrupted Swift — and he still regrets not doing more in that moment. “The second [Swift] turned back around and I saw her face for the first time, I was like, ‘Oh. No. That wasn’t good.’ I probably should have said something,” Lautner said in a February episode of his The Squeeze podcast.

After their breakup, Swift released “Back to December” in 2010. She made it clear who the song was about at the time. Her in-album code read, “Tay,” and she referenced Lautner’s “tan skin” and “sweet smile” in the song’s lyrics. That song also hinted at who ended things: “But this is me swallowin’ my pride / Standin’ in front of you sayin’ I’m sorry for that night ... Wishin’ I’d realized what I had when you were mine.”

Fourteen years after their breakup, the exes seem to be friends. Lautner starred in Swift’s “I Can See You” music video, and he even made an appearance on stage during her Eras Tour in July. Talking to Cooper, Lautner opened up about the rekindled friendship: “I think when you respect somebody for who they are, like in their soul, it allows you to move on, forgive and continue that love in a different way.”

“Honestly I would say one of the greater things to happen in my life over the last year is the rekindling of our friendship,” he explained, though they were always on pretty good terms. “We stayed friendly, we would see each other now and then. But we then did fall out of touch and didn’t talk for a while.”

He added, “But I’ve always had the deepest respect for who she is as a person before anything else.”