Member Of The Infamous 'Tortured Man Club' Addresses THOSE Taylor Swift Rumors
Andrew Scott is chiming in on rumors that he has a loose connection to the title of Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department.”
After Swift unveiled her plans for the album in a bombshell announcement at the Grammy Awards in February, fans quickly linked its title to a 2022 Variety interview in which actors Joe Alwyn and Paul Mescal alluded to a WhatsApp group chat they had with Scott, Alwyn’s “Catherine Called Birdy” co-star.
“It’s the Tortured Man Club, I think,” Alwyn, who was dating Swift at the time, said during the discussion. “It’s me, you — and Andrew Scott started the group.”
Joe Alwyn and Paul Mescal have a WhatsApp group with Andrew Scott called "The Tortured Man Club."
"It hasn't had much use recently," Alwyn says.
"I feel like we're less tortured now," Mescal quips. https://t.co/CSai4ScQpzpic.twitter.com/veCp1ZdFsD— Variety (@Variety) December 15, 2022
Speaking to Variety in a new interview published online Wednesday, Scott didn’t confirm or deny the speculation that Swift may have been influenced by his group chat. Still, he clarified that its title was meant as a comment about the actors’ roles rather than anything personal.
Around the time that the chat was named, Alwyn had recently signed on to star in “Conversations With Friends.” The series was based on a novel by author Sally Rooney, whose book “Normal People” had a separate adaptation starring Mescal.
“So they were about to play these tortured characters, and I had played a tortured character in ‘Fleabag,’” explained Scott, referring to the British TV series starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge. “It wasn’t about our own characteristics!”
The “Ripley” actor went on to note that, sadly, the group chat is no longer active.
“I think there were three texts, like, ‘Hey, guys,’” he said. “You know those groups that you set up, and they just collapse.”
The “Tortured Poets Department” discourse, however, hasn’t diminished Scott’s admiration for Swift, whom he described as “a force of nature, just an extraordinary human.”
“Taylor’s new album is sensational! I texted her yesterday to say how amazing it is,” he told Variety, naming the ballad “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” as his favorite track.
