— -- Taylor Swift debuted her new music video for "Look What You Made Me Do" last night at the MTV Video Music Awards, causing a firestorm on social media.
The more than 4-minute long video, directed by Joseph Kahn, focused on Swift's reputation and the revamped image she seems to want to convey, as told through hidden clues and possible homages.
Swift herself has stayed mum about the song and corresponding video, though Kahn sang her praises on Twitter Sunday night.
"It's so fun to collaborate and make videos with @taylorswift13," he wrote. "These videos are true collaborations. She's the hotter, smarter me."
Though Swift announced in the single that "the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now... 'cause she's dead," it seems she wants to say a proper goodbye to her past.
A few of the most notable moments from the video are below. "Reputation," the album on which "Look What You Made Me Do" appears, will hit stands Nov. 10.
29 seconds: One of the first images of the video is a headstone with the inscription, "Here lies Taylor Swift's reputation." (Another gravestone reads, "Nils Sjoberg," the pseudonym she used on "This Is What You Came For," the song she wrote with her ex-boyfriend, Calvin Harris. The two famously feuded over the song last July.) Swift crawls out of the ground wearing zombie makeup -- and the dress she wore in the music video for her song "Out of the Woods." Her most notable fashion choices make appearances throughout the video, including at the 34-second mark, when she's seen lying in grave wearing the gown she wore to the Met Gala in 2014.
35 seconds: Swift is lying in a bathtub, surrounded by jewels and wearing a diamond-encrusted snake ring -- a nod to the snake photos she posted to social media last week. Though Swift has not confirmed the meaning of the snake, it's notable that last summer, reality star Kim Kardashian West tweeted, "Wait, it's legit National Snake Day?!" after uploading to Snapchat a recording of her husband, rapper Kanye West, discussing his new song, "Famous," with Swift. (There was a discrepancy as to whether West cleared the controversial lyric, "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/I made that b---- famous," with the singer. Later, Swift, who made a speech at the 2016 Grammys that indicated she was offended by the lyric, said she was upset by his use of the word "b----.")
Also in the bathtub: a $1 bill. Earlier this month, Swift won a $1 lawsuit in which she accused a former radio deejay of groping her. “My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard,” she said in a statement afterward. “Therefore, I will be making donations in the near future to multiple organizations that help sexual assault victims defend themselves."
56 seconds: Swift is now wearing snake rings on all of her fingers, and snakes can be seen slithering around a golden throne on which she sits. However, perhaps biggest indication that Swift feels that she's been betrayed is the inscription, "Et tu Brute," a line from "Julius Caesar," which appears throughout the scene. She's also sipping tea, which naturally, is served by snakes -- a possible nod to the phrase, "Spill the tea," which references gossiping.
1:07: In a much-discussed moment, Swift, bearing a striking resemblance to her reported nemesis Katy Perry, crashes an expensive car while holding a Grammy. Fan theories abound about this scene, with some speculating that it's a shot at Perry, who has not won a Grammy, and others guessing that it's a statement about the nature of fame, as paparazzi stand by snapping photos as the accident unfolds. Later, this character says she's "getting receipts," which adds to the Perry theory, as a lyric in Perry's song "Swish Swish" is, "And karma's not a liar/She keeps receipts."
1:40: In a multi-faceted scene, Swift, wearing a shirt adorned with a tiger face and the words, "Blind for love," robs a streaming company in a cat mask. In 2015, Swift wrote a letter to Apple demanding compensation for artists whose music was streamed on Apple Music. Earlier this year, she began providing her music to streaming services.
As for her shirt, many believe it's a reference to Swift's much-discussed love life.
1:50: An apparent nod to her "squad" of actresses, singers and models, Swift, clad in leather and brandishing a whip, is seen presiding over rows of robotic mannequins.
2:18: Male dancers, including her friend Todrick Hall, reveal cropped tops that read, "I [heart] TS." Last summer, Swift's ex-boyfriend, actor Tom Hiddleston, was seen wearing a T-shirt with an identical message.
2:27: As Swift sings, "I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me," her most famous "former selves" grovel is at her feet. Among the Swifts pictured is an updated take on her self-referential character in her "You Belong With Me" video, who is now wearing a shirt with the monikers of her real-life friends. Those names include Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, the Haim sisters, and Selena Gomez. At the end of the scene, the new Swift rids herself of all of them.
3:21: During the car crash scene, a cat -- likely either a leopard or a cheetah -- sits next to Swift in her car. Later, she is seen walking away from the crash wearing an animal-print coat and walking her new pet. In real life, Swift is besotted by her two pet cats -- but this certainly marks a new, more severe take on that love.
3:40: In perhaps the most-discussed part of the video, several "old Taylors" take their bows and bicker with each other -- all while dredging up criticisms people have made about Swift over the years. Meanwhile, another Swift stands guard, watching from the wing of a gold plane that is spray-painted with the word, "Reputation."
"Stop making that surprised face. It's so annoying!" zombie-Swift tells "You Belong With Me" video-Swift. "Yeah," agrees "Shake It Off"-ballerina-Swift. "You can't possibly be that surprised all the time."
"What's with that b----?" asks one of the new Swifts about the zombie. "Don't call me that!" the zombie snaps back -- another possible nod to her beef with West.
"Y'all," Swift-as-a-country-star interrupts, before Swift-from-the-2012-EMAs makes her cry by calling her "fake."
"There she goes, playing the victim again," one of the new Swifts says -- evoking the same criticism launched by Kardashian West about Swift last year.
However, perhaps the biggest moment comes at the end and revolves around 2009-Swift, wearing the gown she wore to the VMAs when West famously crashed her acceptance speech for best female video. Reiterating a statement the singer made after her latest dust-up with West and Kardashian West, 2009-Swift says, "I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative."
To that, all of her selves exclaim, "Shut up!"
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