Key Takeaways
- Taylor Swift cast Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell in her gothic “Patient Zero” video, which follows a crumbling marriage and features Cara Delevingne in a supporting role.
- Johnson called working with Swift “just the best” as rumors linked her to MGK, whom she reportedly met at Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding.
- Neither Johnson nor MGK has confirmed a romance, and Johnson dismissed speculation about her personal life as “futile” before telling curious fans to “get a life.”
Taylor Swift and Dakota Johnson have another high-profile connection beyond Johnson's suddenly much-discussed relationship with MGK.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Swift premiered her self-directed music video for “Patient Zero” during the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, Sept. 27, with Johnson starring alongside Colin Farrell in the gothic visual. The video arrived two days after the song was released on the deluxe album The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore and puts Johnson at the center of a story about a marriage coming apart.
Swift recruited some serious talent for the project. Academy Award-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki shot the video, while Cara Delevingne appears in a supporting role. Swift later explained that she pulled inspiration from gothic ghost stories, true crime and psychological thrillers, using the video's house as a metaphor for a relationship that has deteriorated.
Johnson, for her part, had nothing but praise for the collaboration. Speaking in London on Sept. 24, the Materialists star called working with Swift “just the best.”
The timing adds another wrinkle to Johnson and Swift's connection. Johnson is currently the subject of dating rumors involving Machine Gun Kelly, and Swift reportedly helped bring the two into each other's orbit.
Johnson and MGK, whose real name is Colson Baker, reportedly met at Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding earlier this year. A source subsequently told People that the two “hit it off” there and had been spending time together “under the radar for months.” They later fueled the speculation when they were photographed together in New York City, including an outing connected to Swift's Tribeca apartment.
Neither Johnson nor MGK has confirmed that they're dating. And Johnson made it clear just days before the “Patient Zero” premiere that she isn't particularly interested in clearing up the internet's questions about her personal life.
Asked whether she ever considers correcting inaccurate stories, Johnson said she sees little point.
“I think it’s just futile,” she explained. “People are gonna believe what they wanna believe, and I don’t have the energy to fight for that.”
Johnson had already addressed her history with musicians in another recent Vogue conversation. After relationships with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and singer Role Model, she joked that musicians “like me” and admitted she likes them too—before memorably describing musicians as “tricky.”
MGK would certainly continue that pattern if the rumors ultimately prove accurate, but Johnson isn't offering any confirmation. Asked more broadly about the public fascination with her romantic life, she delivered a considerably shorter message: “Get a life.”
