Joe Alwyn Denies Ever Visiting the London Pub Taylor Swift Mentions in Her Song 'The Black Dog'
While some songs on Swift's latest album are speculated to be about Alwyn, fans think "The Black Dog" is tied to Matty Healy
Joe Alwyn says he’s never walked into “some bar called The Black Dog.”
During an interview with The Sunday Times, the actor, 33, spoke about what he likes to do in his downtime — and the pub that his ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift, 34, mentioned in her song “The Black Dog” came up.
“It probably looks pretty similar to yours, or anyone’s — seeing friends, traveling, going to the pub,” he said of his leisure time, adding. “Can I make a more boring list?”
He was then asked if his favorite pub would be The Black Dog in Vauxhall, London. The Kinds of Kindness actor denied ever visiting the pub that Swift called out on her latest album The Tortured Poets Department.
“I’ve never been to Vauxhall,” Alwyn said. The publication noted that when he answered, he was “smiling a smile that hints that there is more to say.”
While some songs on Swift’s latest album are speculated to be about her six-year relationship with Alwyn and their breakup, fans think “The Black Dog” is connected to another one of her exes: Matty Healy.
In the song, Swift references someone she notices enter The Black Dog.
“I am someone who until recent events / You shared your secrets with / And your location, you forgot to turn it off," Swift sings. "And so I watch as you walk / Into some bar called The Black Dog / And pierce new holes in my heart.”
Swift continues crooning: "I just don't understand how you don't miss me / In The Black Dog, when someone plays The Starting Line.”
Related: Inside the London Pub the Black Dog That Inspired Taylor Swift's TTPD Song
Notably, pop-punk band The Starting Line is mentioned a few times on the new album, and Healy’s band The 1975 covered their music in 2023 during the time period he and Swift were together.
The 1975 singer dated Swift for a few months in the spring of 2023.
Alwyn and Swift were first romantically linked in May 2017 and dated until April 2023. The Favourite actor told The Sunday Times that their relationship was "long, loving" and "fully committed.”
Related: Joe Alwyn Is 'Doing Well' and 'Focused on Work' amid Taylor Swift Album Release: Source (Exclusive)
The pub has began selling merchandise including hoodies, baseball caps, T-shirts and travel mugs since the song's release. The establishment catered to traveling Swifties by adding a Swift Burger and a Black Dog lager to their menu.
The Black Dog Marketing Manager Amy Cowley told PEOPLE in April that the surge in interest, thanks to Swift’s song, has “been surreal.”
“We’ve had a huge request from fans for merchandise,” Cowley revealed. “We’re creating T-shirts and people are already buying our pint glasses. The number of people signed up to our mailing list for the merchandise is already in the thousands, so we absolutely anticipate things will sell out as soon as they’re ready.”
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She added, “We’re quite lucky because we’re a well-established and well-loved local pub already, but that’s the key word, we’re a local pub, so to get this worldwide attention has been crazy.”
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