Taylor Swift Reels In British Actor Joe Alwyn Amid Sexual Assault Scandal

Taylor Swift has been out of the limelight long enough that her critics might have wondered if she’d given up her reign as a pop diva forever, but the month of May is proving to be all Swift. The singer is back in the news, announcing a new album and sending one lucky high school graduate a bouquet of flowers. If that’s not enough, Taylor seems to be dating again and sources suggest the “Bad Blood” star has been wooed by British actor Joe Alwyn.

Has Newcomer Joe Alwyn Captured Taylor Swift’s Heart?

Joe Alwyn is new on the scene with just two acting credits to his name (The Sense of an Ending, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk), but, as E! News reports, that was enough to catch Taylor’s eye. The relationship is still new and, as fans learned with Swift’s past romance with Tom Hiddleston, the singer likes to keep things low-key until she has a grasp on where the relationship is going. To that end, sources report Taylor has been using disguises to keep from getting recognized, while out with Joe at U.K. hot spots.

Indications are that Ms. Swift is invested in making things work with Alwyn. Taylor has rented a North London home to be closer to the actor and takes private jets back and forth between England and the U.S. Taylor recently made one such trip, when she traveled to Nashville to spend Mother’s Day with her own mom, Andrea Swift.

Taylor wasted little time in returning to North London with paparazzi snapping photos of the “Shake It Off” singer, as she boarded her plane for the flight back across the ocean.

Alwyn’s star seems to be on the rise. He recently finished filming the Yorgos Lanthimos biopic The Favourite in which he plays a love interest to the film’s star, Emma Stone.

Taylor Swift Won’t Back Down in Her Sexual Assault Lawsuit

While Joe Alwyn has Taylor’s heart, her head is elsewhere. People reports that Swift is still pursuing her sexual assault case against former KYGO D.J. David Mueller and that the pop singer has lined up an expert witness to testify in her lawsuit. The suit stems from a 2013 meet and greet session, during which Taylor says Mueller groped her. The disc jockey was subsequently fired and launched a suit against Swift in September 2015, alleging that he was wrongfully fired over the incident.

Ms. Swift launched a counter suit against Mueller in which she declared her intention to serve as an inspiration for other sexual assault victims.

“[I] will serve as an example to other women who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts,” Swift stated in court documents.

Recently, Taylor lined up Lorraine Bayard de Volo, a professor of women’s and gender studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, to testify as an expert witness. The professor will be asked to analyze Mueller’s behavior as being typical of a sexual assault perpetrator.

David Mueller’s attorney has filed a motion to bar Lorraine Bayard de Volo from testifying.

According to de Volo, Mueller had been in danger of losing his job and his career as an on-air personality, so he felt pressured to prove himself with his meet and greet with Swift.

“This perfect storm of threats to Mr. Mueller’s perceived status is consistent with the well-settled, academically accepted, perceived threats to status that motivate a man to commit sexual harassment or assault,” de Volo said.

During the 2013 meet and greet, Mueller and his girlfriend met with Taylor Swift. Initial court documents allege that Mr. Mueller reached his hand under Swift’s skirt and groped “an intimate part” of Taylor’s body without her consent or permission.

Mueller does not dispute that Swift was groped at the meeting, but names KYGO station manager Eddie Haskell as the offending party.

Taylor addresses Mueller’s allegation in her countersuit.

“Ms. Swift knows exactly who committed the assault — it was Mueller — and she is not confused in the slightest about whether her long-term business acquaintance, Mr. Haskell, was the culprit.”

The lawsuit goes to trial in August.

[Featured Image by Rick Diamond/Getty Images]