Taylor Swift’s famous 2010s girl squad may be a thing of the past, but one longtime friendship has remained remarkably steady through fame, career changes, and life in the spotlight. That friend is Abigail Anderson, Swift’s closest companion since high school. During a November 2026 “Toy Story 5” Q&A, Swift described Anderson as the person who recognizes her “for the strange, little genre that is you at your purest.”
Swift, who contributed songwriting to the film, likened her bond with Anderson to the friendship between Bonnie and Blaze in the latest “Toy Story” installment. The singer met Anderson after moving to Nashville at age 14 to pursue music. Their connection formed quickly, as both teenagers searched for a place where they could feel understood. For Swift, that eventually meant discovering someone who was just as “weird and silly” as she was.
More than two decades later, Anderson still brings out Swift’s playful, younger side. Although both women are now married and in their 30s, they continue to speak to each other in exaggerated “Napoleon Dynamite” voices whenever they meet. “It’s something our husbands have to put up with,” Swift joked. Travis Kelce, Swift’s husband, likely has little reason to object, particularly because Anderson and the rest of Swift’s inner circle have embraced him. Through all the changes in their lives, the friends remain thankful that they once ended up sitting beside each other in English class.
Taylor Swift and Abigail Anderson’s friendship began with Shakespeare
Before Swift and Anderson adopted their playful “Napoleon Dynamite” routine, Shakespeare helped bring them together. While the works of the British playwright are not exactly known for Jon Heder-style humor, “Romeo and Juliet” sparked a shared reaction between the two teenagers. “We were the ones in the back of the class saying negative things about ‘Romeo and Juliet’ because we were so bitter toward that emotion at the time,” Anderson recalled on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in 2008, according to Us Weekly.
Their mutual skepticism about the play’s dramatic romance became the beginning of a lifelong bond. “We just really connected … and ever since then, we have been inseparable,” Anderson said. Swift later immortalized her friend as the redheaded Abigail in the 2008 song “Fifteen.” As Swift’s career grew, she found it increasingly difficult to connect with people who did not understand the pressures of her life, making her enduring relationship with Anderson all the more meaningful.
Swift has always emphasized that Anderson connects her to the life she knew before becoming famous. “She wanted to be a swimmer and go off on a college scholarship for swimming and I wanted to be a singer. Now she’s off at Kansas on a swimming scholarship and I’m singing,” Swift said on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2009. Their paths have since evolved: Anderson now works as a corporate development executive rather than pursuing swimming professionally, while Swift has become one of the world’s biggest pop stars. Still, their decades-long friendship has remained one of the strongest constants in Swift’s life.