Did A 'Swiftie Union' Cause Taylor Swift And Matty Healy To Break Up?

Days after a ridiculous graphic from a so-called "Taylor Swift Fan Union" was first posted online, the pop singer is reportedly out of her contentious relationship with The 1975 singer Matty Healy. These two events are, however, likely unrelated.

Last week, a series of graphics done up in the corporate art style appeared to announce that Swifties, diehard fans of Taylor Swift, were forming a labor union, demanding compensation for the work they do marketing the pop star online and a consultatory role for her future personal and musical decisions.

Included in this supposed announcement of a union was a slide about Swifties (aka "fanworkers") being "harmed" by Swift's decision to date an "alt-right extremist without union consultation."

Much digital ink and digital space was devoted in May to Swift's apparent decision to begin dating Matty Healy. Many Swift fans were extremely offended by this due to Healy making controversial comments in the past and laughing at off-color jokes about Ice Spice on The Adam Friedland Show.

One Swiftie posted a widely mocked open letter to Swift asking that she consider the role her personal life plays in the lives of her fans, particularly her fans of color.

This all serves to make the "unionization" announcement all the more believable, but it is in fact a parody created by Brad Troemel, who has become something of an internet chaos goblin of late. Troemel has been behind two other viral hoaxes in recent years, including a fake ad for Joe Biden and a cringey series of posts asking the writer's strike to stop using Marvel characters.

Still, as the graphic was spreading online among some gullible readers, TMZ reported that Swift and Healy split. TMZ cites one source who says they're over and uses a clip of a 1975 concert where Healy kisses a security guard as proof, and it has not been confirmed by Swift or Healy (though they never confirmed they were actually in a relationship either).

Should the report be accurate, it's unclear what caused them to break up, but we can say for certain that it's not because a labor union of Taylor Swift fans demanded it. It could be that the negative press and online reaction was a factor, or it could be that Swift read some posts by Azealia Banks, who a week ago warned Swift on her Instagram stories that Healy was supposedly going to give her scabies and advised her that she could not let Healy "climb the rich white c--chie mountain."

The world awaits confirmation about this very important topic.