It’s officially time for every Swifie to send the following message to their fellow die-hard stans: “Wake up, babe! New Joe Alwyn pics just dropped!”
Yep, turns out William Bowery Joe has ~officially~ made his return to Instagram for the first time since his and Taylor Swift’s split back in April 2023. He dropped a series of images earlier today that, for all intents and purposes, caused super-fans to lose their shit. Here’s our collective mood about the whole thing before we get all Miley Cyrus “WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!?!” on you:
Okay, so here is the situation:
- Up until today, Joe’s last grid post was uploaded on May 29, 2022—roughly a year before he and Taylor broke up.
- Fast-forward to 2023, aka our Year of Nepo Baby Discourse, and Joe dropped 10 slides on September 5 alongside the caption “📸 🌊,” which I presume is guy lingo for “summer pics.” Check it out for yourself:
- In a very on-brand move, Swifties everywhere had a lot of theories about all the possible Easter eggs Joe could have theoretically snuck in his post. TikTok user @amandachristine_1 , for instance, mentioned in a video that the first image is reminiscent of the country singer’s song “Daylight,” while the still of a stone building and leaves seemingly references Taylor’s song “ivy.” (Although, as one comment points out, it’s actually a fig tree ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.)
- There’s also a sketch of a building some fans suspect alludes to Taylor’s Cornelia Street address; the inclusion of a Bon Iver performance (who appeared on Taylor’s album Folklore and co-wrote the song “Exile” with Taylor and Joe); and perhaps most worth of discussion of all is an image of baby Joe decked out in a costume with a bow and arrow, which some (read: many) say kinda sorta definitely gives them “The Archer” vibes.
And here’s a vid in full if you’re in the mood to spiral :
In case you need a refresher on Taylor and Joe’s split: Their breakup was apparently pretty “amicable” and didn’t seem to be “dramatic,” per sources who spoke with Entertainment Tonight on April 8, 2023. According to the insiders, “The relationship had just run its course. It’s why [Joe] hasn’t been spotted at any shows.” At the time, People separately confirmed the breakup.
Welp, this has surely been an update! And in case you were really curious, yes, Joe totally still follows his ex on Instagram. 👀 The more you know.
Assistant news editor
Gretty Garcia is the assistant news editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers all things news, entertainment, and pop culture. Before joining Cosmo, Gretty was a social strategist for Mrs. Dow Jones and a features and special projects editor at Editorialist. She holds an MS from the Columbia Journalism School and studied art history at Harvard College.