Taylor Swift Snuck A Bunch Of Shady Easter Eggs In Her New Music Video

Taylor Swift has spent most of her career coding her work with secret messages to her fans.

Part of that comes from her suspicion of the mainstream press. Most big journalists have never treated Swift well, as a montage in Miss Americana shows, and some time ago she decided that she could do their job without them.

But another part of that is making her fans feel special — rewarding their attention, and encouraging them to look deeper; to go further.

That’s the name of the game with the video for ‘The Man’, one of the key tracks off Swift’s newest record Lover.

A takedown of the patriarchy that plays on the double standard that female pop stars are subjected to, the video sees Swift in drag as a toxic male bigshot, rewarded for all the things that the real Swift gets chastised for.

But hidden amongst that generalised takedown of the patriarchy are specific digs at those who have hurt her.

First up is this shot, in which the pop star urinates on a wall with her album names spray-painted on it, and a sign depicting a scooter with a cross through it. No confusion over who that’s about; Swift’s ex-manager, Scooter Braun, who bought the musician’s back catalogue from underneath her.

? | The graffiti of all of her album names is directly next to the word “karma” and a sign saying no scooters allowed ?❌ #TheManMusicVideo pic.twitter.com/kCVI8mFg5Q

— Taylor Swift News (@TSwiftNZ) February 27, 2020

Less obvious, but just as clear to fans, are nods to Swift’s longtime feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

In particular, fans are pointing to a scene where Swift’s alter-ego walks through a corridor styled exactly like the Kardashian-West household, receiving applause and praise in a way some think is meant to reflect the props Kanye had heaped upon him for his Swift-referencing ‘Famous’ line.

That lyric probably doesn’t need repeating for most people, but if you’ve forgotten just how egregious it is, here ya go: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous.”

oh my god. the first pic is of kanye and kim’s hallway. the second pic is from the scene in the man mv where he’s leaving his one night stand and getting praised for it. it’s literally a nod towards how kanye was praised for releasing THAT Song with THAT Line. pic.twitter.com/ZFoyRRTr8h

— FUCK IT. HARRY IN A WAWA (@haylor) February 27, 2020

Then there’s the moment when the pop star rises out of bed next to a half-naked woman. Most fans read that as a reference to Kanye’s controversial ‘Famous’ video, which features the rapper in bed with a string of naked mannequins, including a nude version of Swift.

don't mind me just watching taylor's "the man" music video version of herself in a scene with a half naked woman in bed ? pic.twitter.com/MwnFbXWDe0

— prιɴceѕѕ ✵ ѕαrcαѕм (@asapphicperson) February 27, 2020

Just goes to show — one should never mess with Taylor Swift.