Selena Gomez confirmed Taylor Swift’s song “Dorothea” is about her. “WhenI listen to it, I’m so impressed with how eloquently it’s put,” the Rare Beauty founder says of the track during the Tuesday, May 3 episode of the Friends Keep Secrets podcast. “Dorothea” was featured on Swift’s 2020 album Evermore.
Selena Gomez confirmed that a certain Taylor Swift song is actually about her.
During the Tuesday, May 3 episode of Friends Keep Secrets — Benny Blanco’s podcast with Lil Dicky and his wife Kristin Batalucco — the Rare Beauty founder discussed her longtime friendship with the pop megastar and revealed that a track on Swift’s 2020 album Evermore is about Gomez.
“Well, ‘Dorothea’ is about me, one of her songs,” said Gomez, 33. “And I feel like a lot of moments we had were huge moments that were self‑defining — from relationships to family to love to hate, all of it in between. We were figuring it out because I was 15 and [Taylor] was 18.” She continued, “We didn’t really know what was going on, and so we’ve never seen each other any differently. So when I listen to [‘Dorothea’], I’m so impressed with how it’s eloquently put.”
Swift appears to sing about a grounded, enduring friendship on “Dorothea”: “But it’s never too late to come back to my side / The stars in your eyes shined brighter in Tupelo / And if you’re ever tired of bein’ known for who you know / You know, you’ll always know me.”
Gomez also revealed that Swift, 36, wrote an unreleased song about their friendship called “Family.” “It was over easily a decade ago,” the Scared of Loving You artist said of when the track was written.
“Insinuating in the lyrics without quoting it, [‘Family’] was basically saying you have these amazing dreams, you want to be in movies. Like, ‘in every crowd I still see you.’ Then her part was like, ‘You believe in my stupid dreams like playing stadiums,’” she recalled.
Gomez says it makes her emotional to think about it now. “Now when I listen to that song, both of those things have happened for us,” she said, adding that it “makes me want to cry.” The Bluest Flame performer called the song “the sweetest thing.”
“Back then, [Taylor] was like, ‘I just wrote this song about us,’ and it was just our story,” she said of the track.
Reflecting on their time growing up in the spotlight together, Gomez said she and Swift “survived it as best as we could.”
“When we talk about it, we’re not like, ‘Look at this prosperity.’ It’s more like, ‘This is so cool that you get it.’ It’s absolutely unbelievable to come from 17 years of friendship — from multiple heartbreaks and love stories and fun stories in life,” she said.
Swift and Gomez first crossed paths in 2008 when they were each dating a Jonas brother (Swift with Joe Jonas, Gomez with Nick Jonas). The duo became close friends as a result.
Over the years, they’ve showcased their bond — cheering each other on at award shows, sharing the stage, and celebrating Gomez’s engagement to music producer Blanco. Swift was by her friend’s side when she married the love of her life.
