When Taylor Swift announced that she was releasing a new album, the fandom went into overdrive with theories about who the controversially-titled songs may be about. Given that she had ended her long-term relationship with Joe Alwyn the year before, many Swifties speculated that the title of the album - The Tortured Poets Department - was a pointed reference to her ex.
Alwyn had previously spoken about being in a Whatsapp group with fellow actors Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott, and the name of this now-famous chat was 'The Tortured Man Club'. So when Taylor shared the name of her new album, parallels were instantly drawn. Teamed with the fact that the track list included songs like So Long, London and The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, fan theories gained traction very quickly.
Once TTPD was released, however, it became apparent that a number of the songs were actually about her short-lived romance with Matty Healy. And now, Andrew Scott has finally commented on the rumours that the album was named after *that* Whatsapp group chat. During an interview with Variety, the actor addressed the inspiration behind the chat between himself, Mescal and Alwyn - and honestly, it might just put the whole thing to bed once and for all.
When asked exactly what The Tortured Man Club was, Scott said: "Let me tell you what that is! So [Alywn and Mescal] were about to play these tortured characters, and I had played a tortured character in Fleabag. It wasn’t about our own characteristics!"
Scott famously played the Hot Priest in Fleabag, while Mescal was about to start filming Aftersun and Alwyn had appeared in Sally Rooney's Conversations With Friends. He also confirmed that the chat was a short lived venture and was no longer in use, adding: "I think there were three texts, like, 'Hey, guys.' You know those groups that you set up, and they just collapse."
Further proving there's no bad blood between any of the so-called tortured men and Taylor, Scott continued: "I texted her yesterday to say how amazing it is. I think she is just a force of nature, just an extraordinary human, and this album is really, really amazing."
Well, that's that!
