Who Taylor Swift’s “Betty” Song Is About & How It Connects To Ryan Reynolds

Taylor Swift’s hit concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour features the singer-songwriter performing one of her songs, “betty,” and its lyrics are surprisingly connected to Ryan Reynolds (although, one probably wouldn’t be able to tell just by listening to it). The 2023 movie, directed by Sam Wrench and produced by Swift, chronicles the popstar’s highly successful 2023–2024 concert tour. During its theatrical run, it earned over $260 million at the box office, making it the highest-grossing concert film of all time. A few months later, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour will finally be released on Disney+.

Disney+ is calling the movie Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version), primarily to reference Swift’s re-recorded albums. However, the new name is also due to it including a handful of new songs that weren’t featured in the theatrical version. Nevertheless, many of the standard tracks on the singer’s setlist will still appear in the streaming version of the concert film, including the performance of “betty,” which viewers will be able to spot during Swift’s folklore set.

Taylor Swift’s “Betty” Includes The Names Of Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively’s Kids

“betty” is the fifteenth track on Taylor Swift’s eighth albumfolklore, and it sneakily features the names of Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s first three daughters — James, Inez, and Betty. The song is named after the couple’s third daughter, Betty, born in October 2019, and funnily enough, it was how the world learned her name. Meanwhile, Swift name-drops both James, born in December 2014, and Inez, born in September 2016, during the tune. Reynolds and Lively had a fourth child in February 2023, but since Swift released folklore in July 2020, their name doesn’t appear in the song.

Swift wrote three songs on folklore that were each told from three different perspectives of a love triangle, including “cardigan,” “august,” and “betty.” The story that connects the tracks centers around a couple (James and Betty) who go through a rough patch when James cheats on Betty with an unnamed girl. While “cardigan” is from Betty’s point of view and “august” is from the unnamed girl’s, “betty” is told from James’s perspective. Swift imagined James as a boy while writing the song, but some fans think of James as a girl and interpret “betty” as an LGBTQ+ romance.

Is “Betty” Actually About Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively In Any Way?

Although Taylor Swift incorporated their children’s names into the folklore song, “betty” is not actually about Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively or their young daughters. The singer-songwriter’s real life inspired some of the tracks on her eighth album, like “the last great american dynasty,” mirrorball,” and “the lakes.” However, many of the songs on folklore are based on stories that Swift conjured up in her head, including “betty” (and “cardigan” and “august”). The love triangle is fictional, as are the characters of James, Inez, and Betty.

During folklore: the long pond studio sessions on Disney+, a film featuring Swift performing and reminiscing on her eighth album alongside her co-collaborators Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, Swift discusses crafting the love triangle that plays out throughout the three songs. In her mind, Swift believes that James and Betty end up together, and “betty” doubles as James’s apology to her. She also wrote it from a male’s perspective, but as mentioned above, some of Swift’s fans think of it as coming from a female’s perspective since Reynolds and Lively’s child, James, is a girl in real life.

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Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Movie On Disney+ Fixes A Key Element Missing From The Theatrical Version

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) is coming to Disney+, and it promises to give streaming viewers the same surprise as live concertgoers.

What Ryan Reynolds Has Said About Taylor Swift’s “Betty”

Of course, Taylor Swift asked her friends’ permission to use their daughters’ names in “betty” before she released folklore on July 24, 2020, so Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively were aware of the tributes to their children in the track. Following the album’s debut, Reynolds commented on the song while speaking with SiriusXM. The actor said:

“I mean the names are of our kids, but we trust [Swift] implicitly, and she’s very sensitive to any of that stuff. And obviously, the song has nothing to do with our kids other than our kids’ names. But what an honor. We thought it was pretty, pretty damn amazing. We still do. You know, I still walk down the street and shake my head thinking ‘I can’t believe that happened.'”

Reynolds added that he and Lively didn’t tell their daughters about “betty” until it was released. The couple surprised James, Inez, and Betty by playing the song for them once it was available to everyone. Ultimately, Reynolds and Lively were honored that Swift would name the fictional characters in her song after their children, as they have all been close friends for several years. “betty” is also quite popular among Swift’s fanbase, leading her to add it to her setlist in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is a film rendition of the colossal worldwide event that sees the legendary pop star hit the stage in a specially curated film event. Performing the hits of her over seventeen-year career in music, The Eras Tour highlights Taylor Swift and her team as they put on a show of a lifetime.

Director

Sam Wrench

Release Date

October 13, 2023

Runtime

170 Minutes