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TIME's 2023 Person of the Year, singer Taylor Swift is a cat mom to three cats and has often spoken about her obsession with felines. The singer has also posed with one of her cats during her cover shoot for TIME's Person of the Year shoot in 2023. She makes references to cats in many of her songs, even singing about stumbling back "home to my cats," in 2017's song Gorgeous.
Currently, Taylor's feline family has three members, Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson, and Benjamin Button. The three cats are mini-celebrities of their right among Swifties and even had merch dedicated to them in 2018. Meredith, Olivia, and Benjamin have also made appearances in several of Taylor's music videos and are a common feature on her Instagram.
In a 2019 interview with TIME, Taylor revealed that her obsession with cats led her to take a role in the film Cats. She even attended a 'cat school' to learn more about cat behavior.
"I have cats. I'm obsessed with them. I love my cats so much that when a role came up in a movie called Cats, I just thought, like, I gotta do this," Swift said.
The Fortnight singer revealed that she loves cats because "they're very dignified. They're independent. They're very capable of dealing with their own life."
Everything to know about Taylor Swift's cats
Taylor Swift has three cats: Meredith Grey, Benjamin Button, and Olivia Benson, and all their names are based on fictional characters she loves.
Meredith Grey (Scottish Fold)
Meredith Grey was Taylor Swift's first cat and is named after Dr. Meredith Grey (played by Ellen Pompeo) from Grey's Anatomy. The singer got the Scottish Fold in 2011 and in a 2012 interview, she spoke about Meredith.
"She is awesome. She's, like, the most adorable cat in the world," Swift said.
Meredith is a bit of a star herself and has made several appearances on Taylor Swift's social media accounts and films. She has appeared in the video for Taylor and Brendon Urie's 2019 song ME!
In Deadpool 2 Ryan Reynolds' character is seen wearing a t-shirt featuring Meredith and Olivia sitting side-by-side. The text on it reads, "Olivia & Meredith Best Friends Purrrrr-Ever."
However, Meredith is Taylor's most reserved cat and isn't fond of having her pictures taken. Although the singer's Instagram feed does have pictures with her cats, fans were concerned about Meredith when they didn't see her on Taylor's social media for a long time.
In a video, following all the concerns, Taylor Swift reassured her fans that Meredith was fine and doing well.
"We've been hearing some rumors on the internet recently. The truth is, Meredith just hates having her picture taken," Swift said.
Olivia Benson
Olivia Benson, Taylor Swift's second cat is also a Scottish Fold and gets her name from Mariska Hargitay's character of the same name on Law & Order: SVU. She became a part of Swift's family in 2014.
In 2015, Taylor Swift shared a video of the cat meeting her namesake.
"This is Olivia Benson meeting Olivia Benson, and um, things are going well so far," Taylor in a video of the two meeting each other.
It is worth noting that Hargitay also has a cat that she has named Karma, based on the song in Swift's 2022 album Midnights.
The cat Olivia has become a mini-celebrity and has appeared in a lot of social media posts, and other creatives. She featured with Taylor in an outtake video for AT&T's campaign in 2017.
"Are you a saber-toothed tiger cub? Are you my baby wolverine? Are you Princess of Meow Town? Are you just a melting snowman? Are you just a sloth? 'Cause you're just a little unicorn kitty cat!" Taylor says to her cat int he video.
Additionally, Olivia was also seen in Deadpool 2 with Meredith on Ryan Reynolds' t-shirt and was featured in a Diet Coke ad. She was also a part of Swift's song ME!.
Olivia also accompanied Swift and her third cat, Benjamin Button to the 2019 Billboard Music Awards where she met Paula Abdul. Taylor Swift took to Instagram to document the moment and wrote that she was trying to give her cats "a normal upbringing" but noted that they had to get a picture when they saw Paula Abdul.
It is worth noting that Paula Abdul later told Access Hollywood that she is allergic to cats.
Benjamin Button
Taylor Swift's third cat, Benjamin Button is a ragdoll who is named after Brad Pitt's character in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. She got Benjamin in 2019 and shared the story of how she adopted Benjamin in an Instagram Live.
Taylor Swift was conducting a Live session with Panic! at the Disco's Brendon Urie, who she recorded the 2019 song ME! with. Benjamin was also adopted from the sets of the music video for the song.
Taylor Swift explained that Benjamin was part of an initiative that casts kittens in commercials and videos to get people to adopt them. She said that he was a "cute kitten who didn't have a home and that she knew she was adopting him the moment she held him for the first time.
"She handed me this tiny cat and he just starts purring and … he looks at me like, 'You're my mom, and we're going to live together.' I fell in love," she said.
Benjamin was a part of the music video for ME! along with Olivia Benson and Meredith Grey, who were seen in the initial part of the video. Benjamin, however, is seen later in the video when Brendon Urie presents Swift with a cat to ask her for forgiveness after an argument.
After the video for the song was shot, Taylor Swift took home Benjamin and shared a photo on Instagram, announcing that he was a part of her family.
"And then there were three..." the caption read.
Benjamin also joined Taylor in her viral #ImFeeling22 campaign. She posted a video with the Ragdoll on TikTok and captioned it, "Benjamin is 22 in cat years. #ImFeeling22."
Benjamin was also featured on the cover of TIME Magazine with Taylor Swift in December 2023.
Taylor Swift has often spoken about her love and obsession with her cats and doesn't seem like it is going to stop at three. She has said a few times that if she gets another cat, she will be named, Monica Geller, based on the FRIENDS character.
