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How Calvin Harris reacted to seeing ex Taylor Swift at 2024 Grammys

The 2024 Grammy Awards marked first time exes Calvin Harris and Taylor Swift were seen together publicly since 2016 split

Meredith Clark
New York
Tuesday 06 February 2024 18:59 GMT
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Related: Watch Taylor Swifts best reactions at the Grammys

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The 2024 Grammy Awards was full of memorable moments and history-making records. However, one moment that Taylor Swift fans can’t get over is the singer’s run-in with ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris.

During the award ceremony - which took place on Sunday 4 February in Los Angeles, California - the “Anti-Hero” singer took home the award for Album of the Year, becoming the first person to win the category four times. Also in attendance was Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, who was nominated for Best Pop Dance Recording for his song “Miracle” but lost out to Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam”.

The pair notably dated from March 2015 to June 2016, and the event marked one of the first times the former couple were in the same room since their split. The last time Swift and Harris were spotted together publicly was at the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Awards in April 2016, just months before they broke up.

In a video shared to X, formerly Twitter, cameras captured the moment Swift brushed past Harris inside Crypto.com Arena. As host Trevor Noah poked fun at the NFL’s recent coverage of Swift during his opening monologue, the 14-time Grammy winner was seen entering the building with her entourage.

“Taylor Swift, everybody,” Noah said, as Swift walked toward her table. Another video posted to TikTok captured the “Shake It Off” singer walking past Harris and his wife, Vick Hope, who were seated at a different table with their backs turned to her. While the 40-year-old record producer was seen clapping for Swift, she appeared not to even notice him. In fact, multiple sources later told TMZ that Swift “didn’t even register he was in attendance” at all.

Unsurprisingly, Swifties - aka dedicated fans of the “Bad Blood” singer - took to social media to share their reactions to the impromptu reunion.

“Taylor walking by Calvin Harris like he doesn’t exist,” one fan wrote on X, while someone else posted a photo of their run-in with the caption: “Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris in the same photo in lord’s 2024 is insane.”

Meanwhile, one person commented under the TikTok video: “Omg not Calvin Harris clapping!!!”

“Her ex Calvin Harris clapped,” another said. “Surprising.”

While the exes seem to have put the past behind them, Swift and Harris were notably embroiled in some controversy following their breakup. Just one month after their split, it was revealed that Swift had secretly written Harris’ hit song with Rihanna, “This Is What You Came For”, under the pseudonym Nils Sjoberg.

The revelation came after Harris dismissed the idea of collaborating with his then-girlfriend. “You know, we haven’t even spoken about it. I can’t see it happening though,” Harris told Ryan Seacrest in April 2016, as many people speculated that his comments were the reason for their split.

Calvin Harris attends 2024 Grammys with wife Vick Hope
Calvin Harris attends 2024 Grammys with wife Vick Hope (Getty Images)

Following reports that Swift was behind the hit song, which has since gained more than 1.6 billion streams on Spotify, Harris criticised the singer in a series of since-deleted tweets. “I wrote the music, produced the song, arranged it and cut the vocals though. And initially she wanted it kept secret, hence the pseudonym,” he said at the time. “Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage though.

“I figure if you’re happy in your new relationship you should focus on that instead of trying to tear your ex bf down for something to do,” Harris added, referencing Swift’s then-new romance with actor Tom Hiddleston, before chiming in about her old feud with fellow singer Katy Perry.

“I know you’re off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy ETC but I’m not that guy, sorry. I won’t allow it,” he said.

Taylor Swift accepts the Album Of The Year award for Midnights
Taylor Swift accepts the Album Of The Year award for Midnights (Getty Images for The Recording A)

Despite his string of angry tweets, the DJ later told British GQ that “it was completely the wrong instinct” to criticise Swift publicly. “I was protecting what I see as my one talent in the world being belittled. It felt like things were piling on top of me and that was when I snapped,” he told the magazine.

Harris also admitted that he struggled with how their split played out very publicly in the media, adding: “The aftermath of the relationship was way more heavily publicised than the relationship itself. When we were together, we were very careful for it not to be a media circus. She respected my feelings in that sense. I’m not good at being a celebrity.”

These days, Harris has been married to radio host Vick Hope since September 2023. As for Swift, this isn’t the first time she has reunited with an ex fling at an award show. Just last year, she was seen supporting ex-boyfriend Harry Styles at the 2023 Grammy Awards. The former couple, who dated briefly between 2012 and 2013, were photographed talking in the crowd and even exchanging a fist bump.

Now, the “Blank Space” singer has famously moved on with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. She’s expected to cheer on the NFL star in Las Vegas on Sunday, where the Chiefs will take on the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII.

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