Not only is Simone Biles an Olympic LEGEND and truly the greatest of all time. She also has a vibey celebrity friendship group. She and Zac Efron are actually besties and it’s the most adorable thing ever.
But Simone Biles and Taylor Swift also go way back. What a crossover!
So let’s take a look at the adorable yet unexpected friendship of Taylor Swift and Simone Biles:
Taylor has been sharing her support for Team USA as far back as 2016, when she wished Simone and the team good luck in the 2016 Rio Olympics over Twitter. But they didn’t actually meet in person until 2017, when Simone went to a Super Bowl party that Taylor performed at in Texas. A huge Swifite, Simon posted this on Instagram with the caption: “Always a joy watching you perform, nice to finally meet you @taylorswift”.
Then, in 2021, Biles withdrew herself from several events at the Tokyo Olympics due to her mental health. Simone then got a lot of hate, with a lot of people calling her “selfish” towards her teammates.
But Taylor publicly defended Simone, narrating a video to her song “This Is Me Trying” with the words “What do we want from our heroes? What do we expect of them? What do we need from them? What happens when they surprise us? When you have the attention of the world, everything you do takes on a bigger meaning. It can be a heavy burden. It can be a chance to change everything. Throughout the last week, her voice has been as significant as her talents, her honesty as beautiful as the perfection that had long been her signature. But don’t you see? It still is. She’s perfectly human. And that’s what makes it so easy to call her a hero.”
Simone Biles responded on Twitter and said that the video made her emotional. She said: “I’m crying. How special. I love you @taylorswift13”, to which Taylor replied: “I cried watching YOU. I feel so lucky to have gotten to watch you all these years, but this week was a lesson in emotional intelligence and resilience. We all learned from you. Thank you.” Just two queens supporting each other.
Later that year, Simone virtually presented Swift with an award, The Gracie Grand Award at the 2021 Alliance for Women in Media Awards, spoke about how much her support meant to her, saying “I can’t even begin to express how much I adore Taylor and her music. And let me tell you, folklore isn’t the only amazing thing she did during this ongoing pandemic. She’s shown incredible grace and generosity to so many of her fans in need, including me. During the 2020 Olympics, she reached out. But she also did something so incredibly special for me that I’ll never forget.”
In her acceptance video, Taylor again shared how much she loved and appreciated Simone.
