Why Lena Dunham Feels Protective of Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift's Pal Lena Dunham Says She's Protective of Her in "Every Single Way"

The key to Lena Dunham and Taylor Swift’s timeless friendship? Loyalty. 

Indeed, the Girls alum explained that although her bond with the Grammy winner—which dates back to a 2012 X, formerly Twitter, exchange—has attracted the attention of acquaintances, she is protective of Taylor “in every single way.” So, don’t ask her for those Eras Tour tickets.

“I will say that she’s everything that you would want her to be,” Lena told the New Yorker in an interview published July 9, noting she would never give away personal details about Taylor. “She’s kind, she’s devoted, she’s introspective, she’s emotional, she’s funny as f–k. I guess my feeling sometimes is, ‘Isn’t she giving us enough, guys?’”

And while Lena—who is married to Luis Farber—has been a part of Taylor’s inner circle for over a decade, her love for Taylor and her music goes even further.

“Even since before Taylor and I were friends, I just always had felt such a deep connection to her music—something unique to only me, obviously,” she joked. “I’ve seen every tour she’s ever done."

photosCelebrities Attending Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour

She continued, "I love seeing a woman who’s not yet forty being, like, ‘Yes, I have a body of work.’ What I find inspiring is her acknowledgment of her own prolific expression.”

Lena—who has attended multiple stops of Taylor’s latest tour—emphasized that she’s supported every iteration of Taylor’s musical journey, and even gave insight into which of her album eras she currently finds the most relatable. 

“Reputation is my favorite Taylor era,” she added. “Because it’s so much about ‘If you’re not going to see me, if you’re going to so refuse to understand what’s in front of you and what I’m trying to say, then why don’t I just put on a black catsuit and move it all the way over to villain mode?’”

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Lena and Taylor’s friendship is deeply intertwined with the “Karma” singer’s music. After all, Lena was dating Jack Antonoff—Taylor’s now go-to collaborator—when they first connected in 2012. 

A year later, Taylor released her first song with Jack, “Sweeter than Fiction,” and later included an ode to the former couple’s relationship with 1989’s “You Are in Love.”

“It’s a song that I wrote that was loosely based on—I wrote it with my friend Jack Antonoff who is dating my friend Lena,” Taylor explained in 2015. “I wrote it as a commentary on what their relationship has been like. So it’s actually me looking in and going, ‘So this happened, and that happened, then that happened. And that’s how you knew you were in love.’”

Although the love Taylor sang about in the 1989 track has faded, her friendship with Lena and her ability to write a great song remain. Keep reading to untangle some of Taylor’s more recent lyrics.