MANILA, Philippines – The Internet is in a frenzy after photos of Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston cozying up to one another have emerged.
The pop star and the actor who famously played the Marvel villain Loki were photographed spending an intimate time at the beach, taking selfies, and kissing.
British tabloid The Sun had this as a scoop, billing it as a "world exclusive" and giving it the headline: "Tinker Taylor snogs a spy: Swift Dumps Calvin [Harris] for night manager Tom."
{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Look which A-lister Taylor Swift is hooking up with <a href="https://t.co/PqjlUsrQx5">https://t.co/PqjlUsrQx5</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZjsTFz8mCQ">pic.twitter.com/ZjsTFz8mCQ</a></p>— The Sun (@TheSun) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSun/status/743224572493824001">June 15, 2016</a></blockquote>
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The photos were taken in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, USA according to the paper, which quoted an onlooker who said, "They were all over each other – hugging and kissing – even though there were 20 people coming and going on the beach. They looked like any young couple madly in love without a care in the world."
Dave Schilling from The Guardian called the supposed budding romance, "as close as we'll get to two memes dating."
A source told E! News, "Taylor is hanging out with Tom. Nothing serious is going on but she is talking to him."
"They have been out a few times she really enjoys his company. She is not looking to jump into anything this fast, but will take things as it goes nice and slowly."
The photos emerged just a few weeks after it was reported that Taylor and electronic producer Calvin Harris had broken up, which the latter confirmed on Twitter. "The only truth here is that a relationship came to an end and what remains is a huge amount of love and respect," he wrote.
Several sources, including those for E! News and People magazine, said that while there was no drama involved in their breakup, things just didn't work out.
However, Dan Wooton, an associate editor of The Sun, told CNN that they had a "hunch that paid off."
"While many other news outlets said he had dumped her, we stood alone in saying Taylor had dumped Calvin. We knew there was more to the story that met the eye and Tom was actively courting Taylor," he said.
Some observers said that an Instagram video, which shows the two dancing at the Met Gala earlier this year, were hinting about a developing relationship.
{source}<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BE8mCj3o_kP/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">TAYLOR SWIFT & TOM HIDDLESTON GETTING DOWN #MET #DANCE #FUNFUN #PRINCE #NYC #tomhiddleston</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A video posted by Carlos Souza (@carlossouza1311) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2016-05-03T13:28:39+00:00">May 3, 2016 at 6:28am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>{/source}
According to a source for People, Calvin "did not know Taylor and Tom were together."
Several news outlets reported that the two have unfollowed each other on social media, with the latter even deleting the tweet that said, "what remains is a huge amount of love and respect." He reportedly also tweeted, "Oh boy its about to go down" with 3 skull emojis, which was deleted but still seen on screenshots. – Rappler.com