Taylor Swift is ‘The Man’ in her new music video.
Taylor just made her directorial debut in the MV for the latest single from her Lover album – and quite explicitly pointed out that she also stars, wrote and owns “The Man.”
In the video, a Taylor in male drag transformed into “The Man” displaying the toxic behaviors that she sings about – including having a “mantrum,” yells at his employees, manspreads and smokes on the subway, parties on a yacht with models, etc.
After the video dropped, Taylor tweeted out a thank you to The Rock for providing the voice for “The Man.”
“Just sitting here pondering how happy I am that The Man music video is OUT. I want to say thank you to so many people- Gotta thank @TheRock for voicing The Man and for being so supportive of my music for years (and now my directorial debut!)- “ she wrote.
Of course, it’s not a Taylor Swift music video without some Easter eggs in there – and fans have been busy trying to decode Taylor’s (maybe) hidden visual clues.
Some think she made allusions to her ongoing feud with Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta.
“SHE SAID NO SCOOTER ALLOWED HERE BYEEE,” one fan wrote alongside screenshots showing a sign of a crossed out scooter.
“I’m screaming she dragged Scott Borchetta and put the word “greedy” next to the poster #TheManMusicVideo,” another fan captioned another screenshot from the video – this time, showing an ad on the subway for scotch with the word “greedy” written in graffiti next to it.
Another scene in the video shows a man freaking out on the court after a tennis match – and fans think it was alluding to Serena Williams’ controversial reaction to a referee’s calls at the US Open back in 2018, which one fan captioned with a quote from one of Taylor’s previous interviews, “A man is allowed to react. A woman can only overreact”
That same scene actually featured a cameo that Taylor told fans “is gonna make you guys laugh,” – her dad, Scott Swift, playing the tennis referee. The scene actually had Taylor flipping off her dad on camera!
Taylor also shared a still from later in the sequence where she’s lying flat on the ground in the tennis court, coining the term “mantrum.”
“Man down. After a massive mantrum,” she tweeted.
The end credits show Taylor’s transformation from Taylor to Tyler, with the words “Directed by Taylor Swift. Written by Taylor Swift. Owned by Taylor Swift. Starring Taylor Swift” flashing on screen.
But fans were already theorizing a Kanye West reference even before the video came out, thanks to the poster Taylor tweeted, which features a hallway filled with white arches and 19 colorful hands. Some fans think Kanye’s home has a similar feature and the 19 could be a nod to Taylor being 19 when Kanye interrupted her speech at the MTV VMAs in 2009.
Then again, it could also be a reference to the 19th amendment to the constitution, which is about the voting rights for women.
What other Easter eggs have you found?
