Taylor Swift fans have strong reactions to a new photograph allegedly “confirming” the singer’s romance with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.
Since her break-up from Joe Alwyn earlier this year, Swift has been reportedly linked with several male celebrities including Formula One driver Fernando Alonso and Healy.
On Thursday (11 May), reports emerged that the “Anti-Hero” singer was spotted “holding hands” with Healy, 34, at a restaurant in New York city – as seen in a now-viral fan photograph.
Swift’s frequent collaborator, singer Jack Antonoff, and his fiancée the actor Margaret Qualley were also seen in the picture, which has been viewed over 1.8 million times on Twitter since it was posted.
The caption reads: “Swifties [sic] dad took this picture just a couple minutes ago and she sent this in our group chat. matty and taylor are together – confirmed!!”
Reacting in the comments section, the Grammy-winner’s fans appeared displeased over this alleged “confirmation” of Swift and Healy’s relationship.
One person wrote: “Why is she putting me through hell again?”
“This is top three worse [sic] moments in Swiftie history,” another noted.
“I’m going to cry like for real,” one comment read. “I’m going to have an aneurysm,” another fan said.
Several users asked for the “intrusive” photograph to be deleted altogether, while many others highlighted Healy’s recent history of problematic comments.
The Independent has contacted Swift’s representatives for comment.
In February this year, Healy sparked backlash after appearing on podcast The Adam Friedland Show.
During the interview, Healy, and hosts Friedland and Nick Mullen seemed to make a number of derogatory remarks about women, as well as mock the indigenous Scots language, and Chinese and Hawaiian accents.
Healy also encouraged the hosts to do impressions of Japanese people working in concentration camps, later joining in himself.
A representative for Healy did not respond to The Independent’s requests for comment at the time.
Earlier this month, a 2016 interview with Healy during which he said it would be “emasculating” to date Swift resurfaced amid dating rumours.
His remarks were in response to rumours that he and Swift had briefly dated in 2014.
The interview was widely labelled “misogynistic” at the time – after which The Guardian ran an op-ed in defence of the singer, titled: “Matt Healy’s comments about Taylor Swift were not the words of a misogynist.”
Healy subsequently clarified his comments, claiming they were taken out of context, explaining that he and Swift “never dated”.
On 4 May, The Sun reported Swift and Healy were ready “to go public with with their romance” during her concert in Nashville. At the time, her fans criticised the incessant speculation around Swift’s love life.
