A video from 2012 featuring Ellen DeGeneres and Taylor Swift has resurfaced on YouTube, prompting fans to accuse DeGeneres of borderline ‘bullying’.
Back in 2012, Taylor Swift, still primarily a country artist, made an appearance on The Ellen Show. Known for being a frequent guest, Swift was often the target of DeGeneres’ scare pranks, including surprises in her dressing room and on-set stunts.
However, the playful atmosphere shifted when Swift’s love life became a topic during an interview, which happened on multiple occasions.
In the recently resurfaced video, DeGeneres is seen teasing Swift about rumors of her dating Zac Efron, despite Swift’s denial. DeGeneres asserted, “You were here with your boyfriend Zac Efron last time,” to which Swift responded, “Erm, we actually never dated.”
DeGeneres persisted, replying, “Yes you did,” as the audience laughed. Despite Swift’s visible frustration, DeGeneres continued the narrative, showing photos of Swift with different celebrities.
DeGeneres then asked Swift to ring a bell if she had dated any of the men shown in the photos. She claimed this was to determine who inspired the song ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’. Swift, however, refused to participate, so DeGeneres took over, ringing the bell on every photo.
Reflecting on the incident, viewers expressed their unease in the video’s comments section.
One viewer commented: “You can see she felt uncomfortable and clearly didn’t want to play the game.. she said ‘I dont want to’. Like 3x and ugh this was horrible to watch honestly.. i felt bad for her.”
Another person wrote: “I’m not really a fan of Taylor but that’s really mean. I feel bad for her. I’d be so embarrassed in her shoes.”
Another added: “Why is this not being considered as bullying in a serious way?”
Model Emily Ratajkowski also criticized the video, calling it ‘f**ked up’ and noting: “She’s literally begging her to stop.”
Despite the awkwardness, Swift and Efron later delivered a light-hearted payback through a special song performed on the show. Swift taught Efron guitar, particularly the chords to ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ by Foster The People, and they altered the lyrics to reflect their show experiences.
Efron sang: “Ellen works a long day. Giving weird interviews in a slick, cool sweater. And it gets kind of weird, yeah, callin’ us out, like we’re boyfriend and girlfriend.
“But it’s not just ’cause we’re just sitting here and we got cat videos and dance on Betty White and stuff. And it’s always gonna be weird – ‘Cause this song is all about Ellen and Swift, yeah.”
Swift’s lyrics referenced her numerous appearances on the show, being scared, and questioned about her dating life. The chorus highlighted the ‘really weird’ nature of their show visits ‘all because of Ellen’.
This incident occurred years before DeGeneres faced allegations of fostering a toxic workplace and disrespecting guest boundaries, which contributed to the end of her talk show in 2022.