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Taylor Swift “Patient Zero” Music Video Teaser: All the Easter Eggs
When Taylor Swift is toasting her real friends, she's raising a glass to Dakota Johnson.
Because perhaps no one cares less about the he-said-she-said than Johnson, who, as their mutual pal Lena Dunham put it to Vogue recently, "doesn't give a f--k in the right ways, yet cares deeply."
Which has to be a pretty important quality to have in a friend—for anyone famous, let alone the most famous person, who prefers her relationships to not come in shades of gray.
"Maybe it’s her sing-song vocal delivery," Swift wrote in an April essay heralding Johnson as one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People of 2026, "serenely answering questions with such frank candor it makes you feel like maybe this girl just...can’t lie?!"
And though Johnson was cheekily referencing her romantic relationship history when she recently called musicians "tricky motherf--kers," the Verity actress can get behind Swift's brand of trickery when it comes to methodically planting Easter eggs and dominating the art of the new music reveal.
Hence no fans being surprised by Johnson's latest starring role in Swift's "Patient Zero" music video, which is set to premiere during the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards Sept. 27.
After all, the artist basically spelled it out during her Emmys cameo.
Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images, Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
"Saccharide, Aries, from the vineyard, North or South," Swift said while playing detective in a pre-taped sketch parodying Law & Order: SVU, offering a series of seemingly random clues that Swifties quickly deciphered.
Because you know what comes in both North and South varieties, right? Yes, Carolina, but also Dakota.
So, Johnson showing up in "Patient Zero" opposite Colin Farrell (who stars in the show "Saccharide," er, Sugar) was really more of a reminder that a not-so-invisible string has tied her and Swift together for years.
They were first spotted in the wild in October 2016 on consecutive nights out in New York with Zoë Kravitz, another real one who, like Johnson, was in attendance when Swift married Travis Kelce on July 3 at Madison Square Garden.
And though Swift went through numerous eras before she and Johnson were spotted out together again, making headlines when they dined with their brothers Austin Swift and Jesse Johnson at West Village hot spot Via Carota in May 2025, Johnson let it be known that "of course" she was a Swiftie.
Raymond Hall/GC Images
"I just find her existence really radical in the sense of what it literally means," the Materialists star told Bustle in 2024. "Not rad or cool, but radical, and I’m totally into it. She’s a fabulous songwriter. She works so hard. She is really kind to the people that love her. I’m just like, do you, girl. I support."
And the appreciation for what the other is putting out there is obviously mutual.
“As her friend, I can vouch for her realness,” Swift wrote about Johnson in TIME, “but add that she’s also one of the most empathetic people I’ve ever known.”
And while Johnson is extremely private, telling Vogue that she's "obsessed with people not knowing where I am or what I’m doing," calling herself "far too porous and sensitive and present" to be observed like that, she'll risk it to spend time with certain friends.
Read on to learn more about the current state of Swift's inner circle:
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Brittany Mahomes
They're cheer captains and they're on the bleachers.
Now that Taylor Swift is engaged to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, she has welcomed another WAG into her crew.
Since beginning her romance with Kelce, Swift has become friends with Brittany Mahomes, the wife of the team's quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.
Not only have the duo been spotted cheering on the team at several games, but but the Kansas City Current co-owner joined Swift and several of her celeb friends, including Blake Lively and Sophie Turner, for a group dinner on Sept. 30, 2023 in New York City.
Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
Este, Alana and Danielle Haim
Attending Game 4 of the New York Knicks NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs on June 10, 2026, Swift huddled up with longtime pals Alana Haim and Este Haim. (The missing one-third of rock band HAIM, Danielle Haim wasn't on hand, though they did get Mariska Hargitay to suit up in their pun-filled tees.)
Collaborating with Swift onstage and on the 2020 evermore track "no body, no crime," the sisters have long claimed a spot at the top of the depth chart. "She has always put her friends before herself in every situation," Alana raved to People in 2023. "She's the kind of friend that checks up on us for weeks after a tough breakup and is a shoulder to lean on."
Robert Kamau/GC Images
Sophie Turner
Well, it's clear Swift is House Turner.
Since Sophie Turner's split with Joe Jonas in September 2023, the Game of Thrones star has frequently been spotted with Swift, who dated The Jonas Brothers singer for several months in 2008.
The friends were first photographed together when they stepped out for dinner in NYC on Sept. 19, while Turner and Swift—who famously penned the song "Mr. Perfectly Fine" about her teenage breakup with Jonas—enjoyed another girls' night out several days later.
Turner was in attendance at the second NFL game Swift attended in support of Kelce, which came after she joined the "The 1" singer, Mahomes and Lively for a meal.
And, amid her divorce, Turner posted a photo of what appeared to be her wrist wearing a friendship bracelet spelling "Fearless," the name of Swift's 2008 album.
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Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds
Yep, James, Inez, Betty and Olin's parents are still on Swift's team, the trio becoming close after the singer befriended the Gossip Girl alum in 2015.
In fact, their children call her Aunt Taylor and have played integral roles in some of her hit songs.
Often by Swift's side on her NYC adventures, Lively became a collaborator when she directed the music video for Swift's song "I Bet You Think About Me" in 2021.
"I finally got to work with the brilliant, brave, & wickedly funny @blakelively on her directorial debut," Swift raved on Instagram at the time. "Join us as we raise a toast, and a little hell."
Following her breakup with Joe Alwyn in April 2023, Swift was spotted with the couple in a getaway car—literally—when they were photographed catching a ride together after dinner at Casa Cipriani.
Of course, Lively and Reynolds were seated right next to Swift during the squad's appearance at Metlife Stadium in October 2023. And after the headline-making outing, Reynolds discreetly weighed in.
"It's a lot of fun," he told Extra during the Oct. 9 Bring Change to Mind Gala. "The NFL right now is reaching a kind of fever pitch that is usually only reserved for the Super Bowl, but here we are at the fourth or fifth game of the year and it's already happening."
While there was some rumored bad blood amid Lively's legal fight with Justin Baldoni, it wasn't enough to ruin the friendship.
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Hugh Jackman
One of the most surprising additions to Swift's squad was Hugh Jackman, with the Greatest Showman star attending the October 2023 game between the Chiefs and the New York Jets, piling into a VIP suite that included his good friend Ryan Reynolds and his wife, two longtime members of Swift's inner circle.
Jackman's outing with Swift & Co. came just after the recent news that the Wolverine star and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness had separated after 27 years of marriage.
Instagram / Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez
Look at them now! Close friends since 2008, Swift and Selena Gomez are still as tight as ever.
Shortly after they were spotted dancing together in the audience at the 2023 MTV VMAs, Gomez shared several selfies with her BFF in a Sept. 16 Instagram post.
"Thas my best frien -she a real bad," Gomez captioned the snaps, quoting Saweetie's 2021 song "Best Friend."
In the pics, taken by Swift, the two pop stars appear to be having dinner outdoors at an oceanfront restaurant. In one photo, the "Blank Space" singer is kissing Gomez on the cheek.
Over the summer, the pair celebrated the Fourth of July together with several other friends at the "Style" singer's Independence Day party. And in August, the Only Murders in the Building star attended one of the Eras tour shows with her sister Gracie Teefey.
Later that month, when Gomez released her new song "Single Soon," Swift expressed her support by sharing the music video on her Instagram Stories, writing, "When ur bestie is the bestest."
Elsa/Getty Images)
Antoni Porowski
Swift has been friends with Antoni Porowski for quite some time, even recruiting the Queer Eye star and his cast members Karamo, Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France and Bobby Berk to make an appearance in her star-studded "You Need to Calm Down" music video in 2019. Later that year, Swift and Porowski attended a Madonna concert together, and he was one of the many celebs to sit in the stacked VIP suite at the Chiefs-Jets game.
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Zoë Kravitz, Laura Dern and Greta Gerwig
The ultimate GNO FOMO!
Swift enjoyed a star-studded outing on Sept. 19, 2023, in NYC, stepping out for dinner with Big Little Lies stars Laura Dern and Zoë Kravitz, along with Barbie director Greta Gerwig.
The night out served as a reunion of sorts for all four parties—in addition to working alongside Kravitz in the HBO drama, Laura starred in Gerwig's 2019 adaptation of Little Women as well as Swift's music video for "Bejeweled" last year.
And Kravitz is one of the Grammy winner's longtime pals and served as a collaborator when she helped co-write "Lavender Haze" and "Karma" on Swift's 2022 Midnights album. The week prior to their outing with Dern and Gerwig, Swift and Kravitz stepped out for another dinner in the Big Apple, this time with Kravitz's then-boyfriend Channing Tatum, as well as Lively, Reynolds and Gigi Hadid, a longtime member of Swift's squad.
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Sabrina Carpenter
Fourteen years after she covered "Picture to Burn" in her first ever YouTube video, Sabrina Carpenter was picked to perform as the opening act for Swift's Eras Tour shows in Mexico, calling it "a dream come true" for her.
"Watching her is a masterclass in itself," Carpenter gushed to Rolling Stone. "Obviously, she’s very good with words. So I feel a lot more comfortable that I’m going into a situation with someone that I admire so much and I’m just gonna, like, study."
Not only was Carpenter part of the celeb crew that attended the 2023 Jets game, she served as an opener for several Eras Tour dates.
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