In Taylor Swift’s Folklore storyline, how old is James in “Betty”?

In Taylor Swift’s Folklore storyline, James is 17 years old in “Betty.”

James is one point of the fictional teenage love triangle shared by “Betty,” “Cardigan,” and “august.” He is Betty’s romantic partner, becomes involved in a summer fling with the unnamed narrator of “august,” and then tries to reconcile with Betty.

“Betty” is narrated from James’s perspective as he apologizes for cheating. Swift explicitly identified James as a 17-year-old boy, even though the lyrics themselves do not directly state his gender. That clarification matters because some listeners initially interpreted the song through a queer lens based on the character’s ambiguous presentation.

The name James is also part of the song’s wider fictional world. James, Betty, and Inez were named after the daughters of Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. Inez appears in the lyrics as a gossip whose claims are usually doubted by Betty, although she is right about James’s infidelity. The song’s characters are invented, not confirmed autobiographical identities.