Sir Ian McKellen wants everyone to know that he’s not part of Taylor Swift’s squad.
In an interview with Gay Star News, the actor was asked how it felt to be in the pop star’s famous posse of friends. (Fellow actor Patrick Stewart recently said that he and McKellen were part of the squad; they were asked to appear on Swift’s 1989 tour.)
“I’m not,” McKellen responded. “When I was living in Peter Jackson’s apartment in New York, Taylor Swift bought it while I was there and I was thrown out before I wanted to leave! That hardly puts me in Taylor Swift’s team, does it?”
According to the interview transcript, McKellen then laughed and explained, “She bought it, she had every right to – I was just lodging there for free!”
And as for turning down the offer of appearing on stage with her: “She did ask me to appear with Patrick Stewart at her show in LA, but I had something else to do that night.”
Read next: Let Ian McKellen Teach You How to Make Scrambled Eggs
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Write to Tessa Berenson Rogers at tessa.Rogers@time.com