Highlights
- Despite rumors, there is no evidence to suggest that Taylor Swift and Zac Efron had a romantic relationship during their time working together on The Lorax.
- Swift and Efron have always been friendly and flirty, according to an anonymous "source," but they have never acted on their connection due to being in relationships with other people.
- Both Swift and Efron have denied any romantic involvement, and their comments about each other have been misinterpreted and seemingly blown out of proportion by the media and fans.
Just when fans thought they knew all the exes that Taylor Swift sang about in her catalog of self-written songs, rumors swirled that there was another man in the mix during her early twenties. Because it was publicized from 2011 to 2012 that Swift was romantically linked to Jake Gyllenhaal and Conor Kennedy, many tried to make that this romance flew under the radar. The man that Swift was supposedly involved with during this time was Zac Efron. Because of his high-profile relationships and chemistry with Swift, it did not appear to be a rumor out of the realm of possibilities. This is perhaps why the rumor, to this day, refuses to die.
During the same timeframe that Swift was dating Gyllenhaal and Kennedy, Efron was linked to two separate women as well. In 2011, Efron was newly single having ended his long-term relationship with Vanessa Hudgens, and was rumored to be dating Lily Collins in the year that followed. With Swift and Efron spending a good deal of time together professionally, rumors of a budding romance began and were fueled with pictures and stories from the paparazzi. The rumors left fans divided on whether Swift and Efron were an item or not.
Zac Efron And Taylor Swift Co-Starred In 'The Lorax'
Efron and Swift met after they both worked as voice actors on The Lorax. However, it was not until the two began to promote the film together that tongues began wagging that there was more going on between the Baywatch star and Swift than the duo was letting on.
"Swift has been talking about him non-stop since her breakup with Tom [Hiddleston]," a source explained about the relationship between Swift and Efron. "She’s always said she feels a strong connection to Zac, but could never act on it because they’ve always been dating other people."
The source went on to say, "Taylor and Zac have always been pretty flirty with each other. She’s reached out to Zac and told him that they should hang out and maybe go to dinner together, and he’s into it. It just hasn’t happened yet because of their schedules."
Of course when rumors like this start, it is hard to shut them down, much like with Efron having plastic surgery to alter his face. As they also include comments that Efron made about Swift, the media completely took over.
Zac Efron Called Taylor Swift "Sexy"
As soon as it was apparent that there was chemistry between Efron and Swift, despite Efron claiming there was nothing going on between the two of them, comments about what he allegedly said about the "Purple Haze" singer surfaced. And when this happened, shutting down rumors became all but impossible to do.
"He [Zac] has been letting his friends know that he is down to see what Taylor is all about," a source revealed. "He likes her music and thinks she is sexy so he is telling friends he is curious what it would be like to have Taylor Swift as a girlfriend."
Some fans who like to rate Swift's current boyfriends and exes jumped on this bandwagon and tried to push that Swift's Girl at Home dealt with the relationship between the two. Though the tabloids wanted to fuel the fire of a relationship between the two, other Swift fans were quick to shut the rumors down.
"I have no idea why this rumor has stuck around so much," one Reddit user said. "Does anyone have any idea why?"
Another user stated, "All these years later and I'm still mystified that this rumor somehow still exists."
"I haven't seen anybody hating on Zac," a third Reddit user explained. "If anything I've seen people say they should be a couple and how they look cute together," leading to speculation that even after a romance together Swift and an ex could be on good terms.
Even with Swift's fans trying to dissuade any rumors between Efron and the Red singer, Swift did not help her case when she sang Efron's praises. Instead, more rumors only came from Swift's innocent comments.
Taylor Swift Called Zac Efron "Awesome"
Swift has had nothing but the nicest things to say about Efron while promoting The Lorax. However, when she called him "awesome," the tabloids seemingly forgot the rest of the comment that Swift made in which she clarified where their relationship stood, even with Efron sitting right next to her on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
"He is awesome; we are not a couple, though," Swift explained. "You hear people get together when they're shooting movies ... co-stars ... but not animated movie co-stars, you know what I'm saying? 'Oh my God, as we were recording our voiceovers on separate coasts, we really connected'."
After that comment, Swift and Efron sang a duet in which they called out DeGeneres herself for spreading rumors about their relationship in a parody of Pumped Up Kicks.
"Ellen works a long day; Giving weird interviews in a slick, cool sweater; And it gets kinda weird; Yeah, calling us like we're boyfriend and girlfriend," Efron sings.
After the chorus, Swift takes a stab at the song and sings some lyrics herself. "She always asks me who I'm dating; Every time I'm on the show; And I don't even know why; And it gets 5 million hits on YouTube."
Despite doing their best to shut down rumors, to this day, people still believe that Swift and Efron dated. While they enjoyed their time together when doing press for The Lorax, there does not appear to be any truth to the story of Swift and Efron being a couple over a decade ago.
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