Does Taylor Swift Reference Boygenius’ Lucy Dacus on ‘The Tortured Poets Department’? What to Know

Taylor Swift did a lot of name-dropping on The Tortured Poets Department — and Lucy Dacus is one of the people fans are connecting to the new album.

Swift's latest record, which was released on Friday, April 19, addressed her brief romance with Matty Healy. During the title track, Swift, 34, mentioned several friends who were present for her fling with Healy — and the subsequent split.

“Sometimes I wonder if you're gonna screw this up with me / You told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave and I had said the same to Jack about you, so I felt seen,” Swift sang, seemingly referencing her longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff and someone named Lucy.

Fans were quick to point out Swift's friendship with Dacus, 28, who is a member of Boygenius alongside Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker. The group recently reunited with Swift at the 2024 Grammys when they posed for photos together in the trophy room. Bridgers, 29, was also one of the opening acts for the first leg of the Eras Tour.

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"Not lucy dacus getting pulled into this mess," wrote one fan via X after the album dropped. Another person mentioned the past connection between Dacus and Healy, 35, writing, "Lucy Dacus named dropped in a Taylor Swift song about Matty Healy…. None of y’all know what this means for me."

Healy was previously on good terms with Boygenius until he used Dacus' name in a social media post that also included an offensive slur. In September 2023, Healy joked that he’d told Dacus that her band’s name inspired him to start a group with a name combining the word “girl” and the R-slur.

“You don’t hear from me at all," Dacus replied via X, to which Healy wrote, “Yeah this never goes well does it." (Healy has since deactivated his account.)

Swift, meanwhile, made headlines with Healy in May 2023 when they sparked romance rumors following her split from Joe Alwyn. The pair, who were previously linked in 2014, stayed tight-lipped about their relationship status, but Healy was seen at several of Swift's Eras Tour shows.

“I kind of feel like telling you, I don’t know, I’ve just never been this happy in my life in all aspects of my life ever before,” Swift gushed to concertgoers in April 2023. “And I just want to thank you for being a part of that. It’s not just the tour. I just sort of feel like my life finally feels like it makes sense.”

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Us Weekly confirmed one month later that Swift and Healy had called it quits. A source noted at the time that Swift's friends were “not surprised” that her connection with Healy didn't last, adding, “She wasn’t ready for another serious relationship just yet.”

Swift has since found love with Travis Kelce, while Healy has been linked to Gabbriette Bechtel. One month after his public drama with Dacus, Healy attempted to offer an explanation for his controversial behavior.

“Because some of my actions have hurt some people, I apologize to those people, and I pledge to do better moving forward,” Healy said in footage from a concert for his band, The 1975. “I think it’s also important that I express my intentions, so everybody knows that there is no ill will coming from me. You see, as an artist, I want to create an environment for myself to perform where not everything that I do is taken literally.”

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Healy claimed his persona doesn't represent his “normal life” and is just him putting on an act.

“I’ve kind of performed exaggerated versions of myself on other stages, be it [in] print or on podcasts and in an often misguided attempt at fulfilling the kind of character role of the 21st century rock star,” he noted. “So, it’s complicated.”

Healy concluded: “Sometimes playing pretend is the only way you can truly find out who you are, and you could probably also say that men would rather do offensive impressions for attention than go to therapy.”