When Karlie Kloss was spotted lurking in the VIP tent the stands at Taylor Swift's Eras Tour last August, there was once again a full-on microscope on their friendship...or, lack thereof. And in case you're new here—i.e. you weren't obsessing over all things Karlie + Taylor in the mid-aughts—we have a timeline to get you caught up. In other words, find out how these two went from being best friends (they were featured on a Vogue cover together!) to pretty much estranged—at least in public.
January 17, 2012
Karlie and Taylor's friendship starts in 2012, when Taylor mentions she wants to bake cookies with Karlie, prompting the model to tweet this:
November-December 2013
Taylor performs at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and has a moment with Karlie:
And Karlie just gushes:
March 5, 2014
Taylor and Karlie become pretty much instant best friends and go road-tripping together.
April 2014
The BFFs are snapped while out and about together in NYC:
May 5, 2014
Then they chill at the Met Gala together...
July 21, 2014
Karlie and Taylor are spotted in NYC again!
September 8, 2014
Taylor tells Rolling Stone she has a guest room where "Karlie usually stays."
October 29, 2014
And then they take in a game with...Ben Stiller?
November 2014
They spend pretty much all of November chilling:
December 4, 2014
Taylor performs at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show again, and Karlie documents the moment on Insta.
December 5, 2014
Fans become convinced Taylor and Karlie are dating (a conspiracy theory that's lasted well into the present day), even coining the couple's name "Kaylor," but Tay's rep calls a story of them making out "crap." More specifically, she tells Us Weekly, "It's sad that on the day it's announced Taylor has three Grammy nominations for 'Shake It Off,' I have to shake off this crap."
A few days later, Tay tweets this:
December 13, 2014
Taylor joins a fleet of other celebs—including Karlie—to celebrate her birthday:
February 13, 2015
Taylor and Karlie share a Vogue cover, which like...what best friends haven't? (Obviously JK, this is a huge deal.)
May 18, 2015
Karlie appears in Taylor's "Bad Blood" music video:
June 27, 2015
Karlie and the rest of the Squad™️ join Taylor on tour:
August 30, 2015
And then at the VMAs!
April 18, 2016
Karlie and Taylor hit up Coachella:
July 5, 2016
Karlie attends Taylor's infamous July 4th party:
August 3, 2016
Taylor celebrates Karlie's birthday with a long-distance video chat:
August 14, 2016
Amid Taylor's feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Karlie is asked by the Sunday Times if she thinks Kim is a "good person" and says, "I think she’s been a lovely person to me in the past. Look, I really don’t know her that well."
The next day she writes:
October 28, 2016
The pair celebrates Drake's birthday together:
December 13, 2016
And then it's Tay's bday, so Karlie goes ahead and celebrates on Instagram:
July 4, 2017
Karlie hangs with Kendall Jenner instead of Taylor for July 4th, which Swifties take very personally.
August 27, 2017
Taylor drops the video for "Look What You Made Me Do," and fans immediately notice that Karlie's name isn't on a T-shirt that features other members of her "Squad."
October 17, 2017
The Blast reports Taylor "politely declined" being on Karlie's new show Movie Night With Karlie due to "scheduling issues."
December 13, 2017
Amid rumors of tension between them, Karlie drops a HBD post to Taylor:
January 1, 2018
Karlie posts this video of herself dribbling a basketball on Instagram, which you might think means nothing:
But actually means everything because she initially captions it "swish swish"— a phrase Swifties interpret as being a direct reference to Katy Perry's song of the same name, which is universally considered to be about Katy's feud with Taylor.
February 8, 2018
Karlie is seen hanging with Katy Perry, causing Swifties to spiral even further. As in, people are straight-up leaving rat emojis on Karlie's insta.
Karlie then posts this cryptic musing on Twitter:
February 17, 2018
Jennifer Lawrence asks the question on everyone's mind during a Times Talks:
March 16, 2018
The New York Times profiles Karlie and writes this:
"Her closest friends include Taylor Swift. They have vacationed together and have sat courtside at a New York Knicks game. Despite internet gossip suggesting otherwise, the pair continues to be good friends and they talk frequently. 'Don’t believe everything you read,' Ms. Kloss said."
April 3, 2018
Karlie gives an interview shouting out all her best friends...and doesn't mention Taylor.
"I've built really amazing friendships—some that last, some that don't," she tells Porter. "A couple have become some of the most important relationships in my life. In particular, those I've been in the trenches with, such as Jourdan Dunn, Joan Smalls, Toni Garrn, and Lily Aldridge. We started as girls and we've grown up together, and I know if I need anything, I can call them up and they will be there for me, just like my friends from kindergarten."
August 26, 2018
Karlie shuts down feud rumors with a BTS post from Taylor's Reputation World Tour:
October 11, 2018
Karlie films 73 Questions and is asked about Taylor, saying, "The world needs to know? Well, Jennifer Lawrence was interested. Jen, don't worry, Taylor and I are still really good friends."
October 18, 2018
Karlie gets married, and Taylor doesn't show. Page Six reports that Karlie's rep says she was "unable to attend due to prior commitments."
March 15, 2019
Karlie is asked about Taylor on Watch What Happens Live (specifically about an essay Tay wrote about friendships for Elle), and says, "Taylor is incredible, and I feel really lucky to call her a friend, and she's one of the hardest working women, and I loved her essay."
August 10, 2019
Karlie appears on Scooter Braun's Instagram, a huuuuuuuge yikes considering Scooter's ongoing drama with Tay.
January 7, 2021
Taylor drops "It's Time to Go," and fans think these lyrics specifically are about Karlie. Ahem:
"When the words of a sister come back in whispers
That prove she was not in fact what she seemed
Not a twin from your dreams
She's a crook who was caught"
August 9, 2023
Karlie shocks literally everyone by showing up at Taylor's Eras Tour stop in Los Angeles—notably in the stands and not the VIP tent.
April 23, 2024
In the midst of Tay's 👀 song 'thanK you aIMee'—which everyone suspects is about Kim Kardashian—from The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology dropping, the reality TV star posts an old selfie that includes Karlie while wishing her pal Derek Blasberg a happy birthday via Instagram Stories.
Yiiiiiiiiiiikes.
Annnnd that brings us up to date. Stay...tuned?