Taylor Swift Wouldn't Stop 'Petting' The Weeknd's Hair When They Met

As I stood shouting my heart out at Taylor Swift's 1989 tour in June, she introduced surprise guest The Weeknd to sing “Can't Feel My Face,” and an unbridled, ecstatic panic erupted from every attendee over the age of 15.

The duet was electric, but I assumed the energy was courtesy of the thousands of crazed fans screaming every line of the song rather than some shared history of schwasty hair-petting between the pair of superstars onstage.

In an interview in the latest issue of Rolling Stone, The Weeknd, aka Abel Tesfaye, told the tale of his first encounter with Swift, which happened months prior at a Grammy afterparty held in honor of fellow musician Sam Smith at an $80 million Bel-Air mansion.

Tesfaye, who was abstaining from alcohol that month, claimed everyone else at the bash was “hammered,” adding, “Max Martin actually left because everyone was so drunk.”

Swift approached him and gushed over his song “The Morning,” insisting it was one of her “favorite songs ever.”

Tesfaye remarked,

I mean, she might have just Googled it. But she seemed genuine.

Throughout their 15-minute conversation, Tesfaye noticed Swift maintaining major contact with his signature mane.

He recalled,

The whole time she was talking, she was kind of, like, petting my hair? I think she was just drawn to it -- she must have been a little gone off a few drinks. And of course I'm not going to be like, 'Hey, can you stop?' I mean, it felt good! But when she started petting my hair, that's when I was like, 'I definitely need a drink.'

None of this is surprising, of course. The fact tipsy Taylor Swift treats someone's head like a house cat only reaffirms her old-soul, baked-goods-hauling, ride-or-die cat-lady persona.

Citations: The Weeknd Says Taylor Swift Couldn't Stop Touching His Hair When They Met (Cosmopolitan), Sex, Drugs and R&B: Inside the Weeknd's Dark Twisted Fantasy (Rolling Stone)