The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards may be over, but Bebe Rexha is remembering a time when Taylor Swift reached out to support her after she struggled to find a designer willing to dress her for the 2019 Grammys.
While speaking with E! News on the VMAs red carpet on Sunday (Sept. 27), Rexha spoke about a very kind gesture from the pop superstar following the “Meant to Be” singer’s experience at the 2019 Grammys.
Rexha previously revealed that she had trouble getting designers to dress her for the ceremony because of her body type. After sharing her experience publicly, Swift reached out to lend a hand.
“I couldn’t find a dress, and she had reached out to me because we’re the same age,” Rexha recalled to E! News. “I thought that was really, really, really kind of her.”
The gesture was meaningful enough, but Swift’s stature in the music industry took it a step further.
“Nobody really reached out — like, some people did — but for her, at such a high level, to like, make me feel like I belong was really, really nice,” she said.
Seven years later, Rexha had no trouble making her presence known on the VMAs red carpet. The singer stepped out in an all-black Dreaming Eli look ahead of the event, where she was nominated for best dance for the track “New Religion” featuring Faithless. (Madonna’s “Confessions II – The Film” took the honor.)
While reminiscing about Swift’s kind gesture, Rexha also began remembering the late Dolly Parton.
Rexha worked with the country icon on their 2023 collaboration “Seasons,” and she remembered being struck not only by the legend’s star power, but by her energy and kindness.
“She is the baddest b—h,” Rexha said, recalling how Parton arrived on set in a corset, towering heels and her signature larger-than-life hair. Rexha joked that seeing Parton’s outfit made her question whether she had dressed up enough herself. But, in the end, working with Parton left a much bigger impression that had nothing to do with attire.
“She was like the most energetic, kind, chill,” Rexha said. “I loved it … sometimes when you meet your idols, they kind of let you down. I’ve been in situations like that, but with her … she was amazing.”
Watch Bebe Rexha reflect on Taylor Swift’s Grammys gesture below:
