The country singer, who is famous for penning songs about her ex boyfriends, was photographed mouthing the expletive while sitting next to Selena Gomez in the audience during the awards.
Styles, who dated Swift for a few months, was on stage with his bandmates.
Speaking to Extra, Payne said, "I just thought it was a bit not needed. I mean, you just won an award, it's like, concentrate on yourself... Hashtag get over it."
When asked whether he though her comment was "lame" and he agreed, saying: "Yeah, We were a bit confused."