Tom Hiddleston's reaction to a Taylor Swift joke by host Simu Liu at the 2024 People's Choice Awards has caught the internet's attention. (Getty Images)
Tom Hiddleston was caught on camera during an unexpected moment at the 2024 People’s Choice Awards. During the opening monologue at the awards show, host Simu Liu discussed how Taylor Swift has dominated pop culture the past year and Hiddleston was caught laughing at the joke.
Tom Hiddleston caught laughing during Simu Liu's Taylor Swift joke
Tom Hiddleston appeared on camera laughing at the 2024 People's Choice Awards, when host Simu Liu discussed Taylor Swift's dominance in pop culture, including her Eras Tour, movie, and relationship with NFL star Travis Kelce, during the opening monologue.
"Finally, for the most iconic pop culture moment of the year, who could forget that one little movie about a blonde American icon that had the entire country dressing up, dancing the night away, and making huge waves at the box office. I'm talking of course about Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie," Simu Liu said, tricking the audience into thinking he was referencing his own movie, Barbie.
The Marvel star continued, "Oh, I'm sorry did you think I was gonna say the other — no, no. Look, I was a Swiftie long before i was Ken. Okay? Just wanted to be super clear where my loyalties lay. I'm a 1989 baby so Taylor and I, we're bonding."
While Simu Liu brought up 1989, a nod to Swift's fifth studio album, the camera panned to Hiddleston who dated the singer briefly during 2016 and appeared to laugh during that moment.
After her split from Calvin Harris, Swift sparked a romance with the Thor: Ragnarok actor after meeting at the 2016 Met Gala. Their high-profile relationship included trips to Swift's homes in Rhode Island and Nashville, as well as Hiddleston's native England. After three months of dating, the duo broke up in September 2016.
Even after their breakup, months later, Hiddleston praised his former girlfriend. "Of course it was real," Hiddleston told GQ in 2017. "Taylor is an amazing woman. She's generous and kind and lovely, and we had the best time."
Tom Hiddleston was up for male TV star of the year at the People's Choice Awards for his titular role in Loki. The show won for best sci-fi/fantasy show. When the star accepted the award, he was sure to thank his fiancée, Zawe Ashton. "Zawe, none of this makes sense without you," said Hiddleston. "Thank you for your love and support every step of the way," Hiddleston said.
During his acceptance speech, Hiddleston also thanked the viewers stating, "Thank you so much, I am so grateful for this great honor. It is such a privilege to receive this People's Choice Award from you, the audience, the people for who we make this work and who allow us to do what we do. I'm so proud of season 2 of Loki as a performer and a producer."
Ashton, who also holds a recent Marvel role as a villain in last year's The Marvels, began dating Hiddleston some time after they met while costarring in the revival of Harold Pinter's play Betrayal in March 2019. The pair sparked romance rumors later that year and have been going strong ever since.
PEOPLE confirmed Hiddleston and Ashton were engaged in March 2022, roughly three years after they first met, and the couple reportedly welcomed their first baby together in October 2022 after she revealed her pregnancy in June of that year, per Vogue.
At the time of the duo's engagement, a source close to the production of Betrayal told PEOPLE that Hiddleston and Ashton had a lovely chemistry during their time on stage together.
