A Complete Timeline Of Taylor Swift & Mariska Hargitay's Age-Gap Friendship

There's a lot of talk about celebrities in age-gap relationships, but there's a different phenomenon that crops up sometimes: the age-gap friendship. Its biggest stars are probably Taylor Swift and Mariska Hargitay, the longtime "Law & Order: SVU" star whom Swift idolized long before they met. Over the years, the two have become close, supporting one another's projects in public while they apparently hang out behind the scenes. Just because Swift was born in 1989 and Hargitay was born, well, earlier, doesn't mean they don't have much in common. The two have bonded thanks to their taste in music, their love of New York, and more.

But when they first met, Hargitay didn't really know much about the "Never Grow Up" singer. She explained on "Late Night with Seth Meyers" years later that they'd first bumped into one another at the Met Gala. "I was so uncool, and she stands there, and she's like, 'Hi, I like your show!'" Hargitay recalled. "I'm like, 'Oh, thanks!' and I didn't know that she was, like, The Second Coming." It's been more than a decade now, and the unlikely twosome seem to be as close as ever. They've stepped out in public together, starred in a music video together, and even appeared together in a conference room at the "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" 16th precinct (more on that later). Read on to explore the complete timeline of Taylor Swift and Mariska Hargitay's age-gap friendship!

Although Taylor Swift and Mariska Hargitay's first, hesitant meeting at the Met Gala might not have been what the "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" singer might've hoped, she managed to connect with her favorite actor a different way. In June 2014, Swift posted a since-deleted Instagram photo of her brand-new kitten, writing simply in the caption (via Us Weekly), "Meet Olivia Benson." This, of course, is the name of Hargitay's beloved character Olivia Benson on "Law & Order: SVU," and the feline Olivia made for a perfect pair with Swift's other cat, Meredith, who'd been named after Ellen Pompeo's character on "Grey's Anatomy."

It took Hargitay a few weeks to respond to the breathless coverage of Swift's "SVU" fandom. That September, Hargitay shared her own Instagram photo, depicting herself in a cat collar that bore a name tag reading "Olivia Benson." In the caption, Hargitay mentioned the "Fortnight" singer and wrote, "This came in the mail." She included a ton of hashtags — hey, it was 2014! — including #GotThisByCatccident, #MeowliviaBenson, #3MonthsLater, and #ALittleLateToThePawty. Hargitay then spoke with Us Weekly and confirmed that the cat had sparked a real friendship. "When [Swift] named her cat, I had so much going on. I was out of town, and when things calmed down, I thought it warranted a real something [special]," she said, admitting that she'd been touched by the naming honor. "That's so sweet," she said, "and too fabulous."

Between the adoption of Olivia Benson — the cat, that is — and the Instagram post where the actor behind Olivia Benson acknowledged the cat, Taylor Swift and Mariska Hargitay went to a concert together. They both showed up in the summer of 2014 to see "Girls Chase Boys" singer Ingrid Michaelson, and they appear to have gotten along very well as they supported their mutual friend.

During an appearance on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," Hargitay recounted the concert and gushed, "She was, again, so unbelievably lovely." Even though the concert was in Queens, Hargitay and her husband, Peter Hermann, hadn't planned for how they would get home afterward, and Swift overheard the conversation. "She was like a little angel that goes, 'Oh, do you guys need a ride?'" Hargitay revealed. Although she initially tried to play it coy, Hargitay took the "Getaway Car" singer up on her offer, and they were both driven home in Swift's car. "That was the end of it," Hargitay told Meyers, and they've been friends ever since.

During the "1989" era, fans wondered about the real reason Taylor Swift crafted her iconic girls-only Squad. The answer might've been hidden somewhere in the lyrics of hit single "Bad Blood," which reference a feud with Katy Perry. However, when Swift released "1989 (Taylor's Version)" in 2023, she opened up at length about the real reason for the Squad in a prologue to the album written for her fans. Swift explained that she'd begun to resent the misogynistic narrative in the media that was swirling around her various ex-boyfriends. "I had to make it stop because it was starting to really hurt," she confessed (via Genius).

Speaking out against the media narrative hadn't really worked, so Swift decided she'd no longer be seen socially with men. "Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior," she said. "I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn't sensationalize or sexualize that — right? I would learn later on that people could and people would." The Squad reached its peak with the "Bad Blood" music video, which featured cameos from a laundry list of the biggest stars of 2015, including Zendaya, Lena Dunham, Selena Gomez, Hailee Steinfeld, Ellie Goulding, and more as a team of assassins. The video also saw a team-up between Mariska Hargitay and Ellen Pompeo, the two actors whose iconic characters provided the names for Swift's cats.

In addition to the "Bad Blood" music video, Taylor Swift's Squad also manifested itself a different way. At many stops of The 1989 World Tour, Swift kept the concert series in the headlines by bringing out various celebrity guests. Some guests performed themselves, like when the "Snow on the Beach" singer donned an Olaf costume while Idina Menzel sang "Let It Go" from "Frozen." Others sang duets, like when Avril Lavigne came out and performed "Complicated" with Swift. She was accompanied by plenty of non-singers, too. Dwyane Wade joined Swift onstage to present her with a Miami Heat jersey — bearing the no. 13, of course. Some special guests, on the other hand, simply stomped the runway to raucous applause, like when Mariska Hargitay and Cara Delevingne joined Swift in June 2015 for a show in Philadelphia.

Their backstage hangout included several moments that had fans salivating. Swift posted a since-deleted Instagram video of the "SVU" actor finally meeting the cat bearing her name, and that might've also been when the twosome had an important conversation that wouldn't pay off for years. A few months later, Hargitay told ET that she'd talked to the "Wildest Dreams" singer about whether Swift might like to appear on her favorite television someday. "We're going to wait until the end of the [1989 World] tour to see how it goes," Hargitay said. "But it's in the air."

By the time the MTV VMAs rolled around in late 2015, Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" music video had dominated the culture for months. "It's just so awesome and it makes me feel super badass," Mariska Hargitay confessed in an appearance on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." She added, "I feel like my cool-factor went up with the kids, and I'm really grateful, Taylor!" The "It's Nice To Have A Friend" singer brought much of the "Bad Blood" cast to the VMAs that year as her many dates, and she walked the red carpet with stars like Swift's BFF Selena Gomez, Hargitay, and Serayah McNeill, the breakout star of "Empire." 

When "Bad Blood" took home the Moon Man statue for Video of the Year, the cast joined Swift on stage, beaming with pride as she said (via The Hollywood Reporter), "I'm just happy in 2015 to live in a world where boys can play princesses and girls can play soldiers." Hargitay also had a blast hanging out at the VMAs with her co-stars. "That was the most fun, being in the squad with all the cool girls and supermodels," she said years later on an episode of "Call Her Daddy" (via InStyle). "It was the most fun ever."

For a few years after that first, delirious brush of age-gap friendship, Mariska Hargitay and Taylor Swift mostly kept their love for one another behind closed doors. In 2023, however, Hargitay reminded everyone what a Swiftie she is, and she did it in a big way: by showing up to The Eras Tour to support her younger friend. On Instagram, Hargitay shared a series of photos from one of Swift's shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. She showed off a wrist full of friendship bracelets, posing alongside the stunning "Today" star Savannah Guthrie. Hargitay also hung out with Swift's mother and even snapped a selfie with Selena Gomez, who led one of the teams in the "Bad Blood" music video.

Hargitay gushed about the concert in the caption of her post, dropping several of Swift's song titles as Easter eggs for fans as she said, "Still in the afterglow of the most magical night. Deepest gratitude to @taylorswift for your poetry and wisdom. You inspire us and connect us to our #delicate tenderness, joy, hope, and strength — and most of all, our wish to live and love courageously." That wasn't the only love Hargitay showed for The Eras Tour. In addition to attending several other concert stops, Hargitay was on hand for the October 2023 premiere of "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour," the blockbuster film that hit theaters a mere month after The Eras Tour swept through Los Angeles. Speaking about the premiere with ET, Hargitay glowed, "She's pure magic. There's nothing she can't do."

Short-lived meeting at the Met Gala aside, Taylor Swift's friendship with Mariska Hargitay really got rolling when Swift named her cat after Hargitay's "SVU" character. At the time, many fans wondered whether Hargitay would return the favor, which was something she herself joked about in an interview with ET. "The squad room needs to get a cat or I need to get a cat and name it Taylor. Either one," she said, referring to the police squad set of her long-running TV show, not Swift's infamous friend group.

It would be nearly a decade before Hargitay did, indeed, name a pet in honor of Swift. In 2023, she posted two photos on Instagram that showed a Siamese cat licking its paws. "Karma is a Cat," Hargitay wrote, referring to the lyrics of the "Tortured Poets Department" singer's song, "Karma." As she had in 2014 when she shared a snap of herself in a cat collar, Hargitay included several hashtags with her post, though she seems to have kept up with the times and limited herself to only a few! "#MeAndKarmaVibeLikeThat," she wrote, adding, "#IKeepMySideOfThePawClean," which is another lyric reference, in case you're not a Swiftie.

Swift saw the post and she commented (via People), "Are you serious?!!!! Nothing has ever come more full circle. LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!" A few months later, Hargitay revealed that her cat had been a bit standoffish at first, but they'd opened up to one another. "She's so slinky and elegant," Hargitay told People. "Just the way she moves always leaves me a little in awe." She's talking about the cat here, not Swift; for proof, check out these times Taylor Swift's cringey dance moves were on display at awards shows.

Stevie Nicks once said that Natalie Maines is her favorite person to sing with, shouting out the lead singer of The Chicks as someone whose band she'd happily join. In 2010, Nicks sang with Taylor Swift at the Grammys, but their joint performance received harsh, negative reviews; still, that didn't stop the two from striking up an age-gap friendship all their own. "I have Stevie Nicks in my life in a way that, like, affects me positively constantly," Swift revealed on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in 2025. "Like, being able to talk to her and have a phone call with her ... she paved the way for me and any other artist to get to do this on this level."

In 2026, Swift joined up with her other older bestie to pay homage to the Fleetwood Mac alum. As the Knicks competed in the NBA Finals, Swift, Este and Alana Haim, and Mariska Hargitay went to a Knicks game together and sat courtside in themed shirts. Este's shirt said "Knickole Kidman" and Alana's said "Knickleback," but it was the other two who stole the show. Swift and Hargitay wore matching tees that used orange lettering to spell out a pun: "Stevie Knicks." Alana told Vogue that the whole thing was Swift's idea, including the punny shout-out to Nicks. Alana also said Hargitay jumped at the opportunity when she got to the game and realized what was going on, and thankfully, they'd brought extras. "Mariska was so down; she's such an amazing human being, and I'm such a big fan of her," Alana said, "so the fact that she also wanted to wear one of my shirts was insane."

Although they were probably supposed to keep mum about the July 2026 nuptials, plenty of celebs told stories about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding. That includes Mariska Hargitay, who set tongues wagging when she showed up to Madison Square Garden rocking a golden bob that surprised fans. Her hairstylist, Chris McMillan, showed off the chop on Instagram, where he gave fans instructions that would help them achieve the look themselves. "Cool girl hair always for @therealmariskahargitay," he wrote, describing the look as having "lived in sexy day old hair same day edge."

"I am still floating from that wedding," Hargitay confessed on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." She didn't give away too much specific information, but she said, "It was so spectacular, and so intimate." If you're wondering how a wedding held in an arena can be intimate, don't worry; Hargitay understands where you're coming from. "When there's a wedding with that many guests, you think, 'Oh, okay, it's going to be that,'" she said. "And it just wasn't ... the vows were my favorite part of the whole wedding. It was that magical."

Over the decades on air, "Law & Order" has scored a huge number of Emmy nominations, so it makes sense that Mariska Hargitay was asked to host the September 2026 ceremony. While many fans might've expected a number of "SVU" jokes, Hargitay had a different trick up her sleeve: finally making good on her long-ago promise to get Swift in front of the show's cameras. The broadcast featured a sketch set in the squad room at the 16th Precinct. "Will Taylor Swift be at the Emmys?" Hargitay-as-Olivia-Benson asks her co-stars. She pulls out a bulletin board blanketed with photos of nominated shows, connected by red yarn to post-its, drawings, and other documents. 

Then Swift herself walks in dressed in a gray suit, playing a detective trying to help crack the case. "I don't think everything is a clue," she says, and Hargitay's character replies, "It is to the Swifties!" Hargitay told People that they had a great time on set, and she said she was particularly impressed by the "betty" singer's baking skills. "Taylor Swift showed up on the set of 'SVU' with a box, this big of sourdough chocolate chip cookies, and I was so blown away because she made them, and they might have been the best cookies I've ever had," Hargitay said. "It was extraordinary."