Everything really has changed.
Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran’s longtime friendship is reportedly “strained” following the release of their latest albums, Play and The Life of a Showgirl.
Though Swift once referred to Sheeran as a “second brother,” sources claim she didn’t give him a heads-up that her 12th studio album would drop just three weeks after his.
Sheeran, 34, released his eighth album on September 12, while Swift followed with LOAS on October 3.
Ed Sheeran is reportedly frustrated with Taylor Swift.
A music industry insider told the Daily Mail on Thursday that Ed Sheeran was “peeved” after Taylor Swift announced her album just weeks after his.
“Ed takes these things really seriously and carefully plans his album releases,” the source explained. “He announced his album with four months’ notice, but then Taylor announced hers for just two weeks later. It left his team scrambling to get as much attention as possible before hers dropped.”
The insider added, “He was understandably put out. It’s not the first time Taylor has done something like this — she’s got form.”
While Sheeran’s album debuted at No. 1 upon release, it quickly slipped out of the Top 10 following the launch of Swift’s record.
The two have been friends since 2012.
The “Shape of You” singer, who has collaborated with Swift on multiple tracks, has previously spoken about how he carefully times his album releases.
In a 2017 interview with the BBC regarding his album ÷ (Divide), he explained, “Everyone I was scared of releasing albums around me released them all last year — people like Beyoncé, The Weeknd, and Bruno Mars. Taylor isn’t going to be releasing until probably the end of this year — Christmas is the smartest time to release because that’s when everyone buys records.”
Page Six reached out to representatives for both artists but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Swift’s album quickly dominated the charts upon its release.
This latest report about their friendship comes just weeks after Sheeran revealed that he learned of the “Fate of Ophelia” singer’s engagement to Travis Kelce through social media.
During an August appearance on Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM Small Stage Series concert, Sheeran was asked how he found out about the Kansas City Chiefs player proposing.
“Instagram,” he replied simply, adding that he “didn’t even get a DM in advance.”
In an October interview, Swift addressed the oversight, saying she had “a perfect explanation” for the situation.
Swift explained that she forgot to tell Sheeran about her engagement because he “doesn’t have a phone.”
Speaking to Jimmy Fallon, she said, “He doesn’t have a phone. And this is one thing I love about him. It’s very eccentric. Love it. But when I’m going through saying, ‘Hey, who should we call? Who should we FaceTime?’ I’m going through my texts and being like, ‘Who have I texted within the last month of my life?’”
She added that Sheeran wasn’t contacted directly because she could only reach him via email, and he would need to find an iPad to set up a FaceTime call.
“This is one of my absolute favorite people on the planet,” Swift insisted, making clear there’s no bad blood. “Then, when the news came out, I was like, ‘Oh my God, we forgot to call Ed! Oh no!’”
She continued, “He’s like family. I love him. But he doesn’t have a phone!”
The two have been friends since 2012, when they collaborated on her song “Everything Has Changed” from the Red album.
The two, who were frequently photographed together in the past, have not spoken or seen each other recently, though the exact timeline of their distance remains unclear.
This comes amid Lively’s ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni, during which Swift has reportedly distanced herself from the actress.
